Welcome To Your Life
by infinityywriter
Summary: Set after Iron Man 2, leads into The Avengers - For 15 years, Tony lived without any knowledge that he was a father. Until one day a letter is delivered to his office that changes everything. Leads into the Avengers. [Repost from older account, currently continuing from Chapter 12]
1. Chapter 1

_**Hello readers! So, I actually started this story ages ago and moved on from FF and forgot my login, so it is still active on my old account (infinity-writerrr) where I cannot access it anymore. Therefore: new account, same story, added chapters. I am active on Ao3 as well where you can find this story. There are currently 12 chapters of this story which will be uploaded altogether on this account for you guys to catch up before I start updating more regularly. Thanks!**_

 **Three Months Before**

It had been just a standard mail delivery; just a few parcels dropped into his office and a few dozen letters tossed across his desk. But it had become so much more than that, so much more than Tony ever imagined.

"This...is a weird letter," Tony squinted, picking up the heavy white envelope. "Private, confidential and delivered in person rather than in the rest of the mail,"

Happy sat over on the couch in the corner, watching as Tony played around with the letter, investigating the address it came from and the name on the front. It was definitely for him, Happy had inspected it before bringing in with the other deliveries.

"Seems important," Happy added.

"Hmm," Tony mused, ripping it open.

Happy watched the man's eyes skim over a few lines before his lips parted and eyes widened. It was a look that Happy had never seen before. Even after watching Tony become an armoured hero, almost losing everything, almost dying, he had never seen the expression on his face in that moment.

"Boss?" he asked quietly. "Everything okay?"

Tony didn't respond, flicking over pages and pages of the envelopes contents and drawing his brows together in concern at each word.

"Get Pepper in here," he spoke quietly. "I think I need a lawyer,"

* * *

Grace awoke with a fright, hearing a plate shatter from another room. Body jolting up in bed, she quickly adjusted to the loud screaming on the other side of the wall, rubbing her tired eyes and letting out an annoyed sigh as she fell back against her pillow.

"How are we meant to pay rent if we aren't getting the cheques!"

"What do you want me to do Jen? I can't argue with social services!"

Grace didn't even need to know the specifics of their conversation, it was one she had heard so many times before over the years. Just when she began to get comfortable in a new home with a new family, she would be pulled and thrown into another. It had been two years since she stopped letting herself settle in somewhere, stopped making friends and stopped believing she would finally have a home.

"They can't just take her,"

"They can," Phil explained. "They've found a blood relative,"

Grace's eyes opened in shock, her lips parting as she took in a sharp breath. A blood relative. It was impossible. She had been in foster homes her whole life, there was no family out there for her. Every kid in a foster home had the thread dangled in front of them once or twice before. The thread of a family, a real home and belonging out there somewhere, and each time it was ripped from them.

Pulling on her old sneakers and grabbing her jacket, Grace marched out of the room and slammed the door.

"Grace!" Jen called out, seeing the teenager head toward the door. "You're not going out!"

"A social worker is coming by in an hour Grace," Phil told her calmly. "You need to be here,"

"So I can be assigned to my next bullshit stopover family?" she shook her head. "I'm not sticking around for that,"

"If you're not here, we don't-"

"You don't get your money this month, I know," she groaned. "I'm sure you'll get a new kid soon,"

With one last glare toward her temporary caregivers, Grace turned toward the door, slipping her arms into her coat. But it seemed she wasn't going to escape the visit of the department she knew all too well.

As she opened the door, standing outside on the front step of the run-down apartment was the social worker scheduled to arrive in an hours time.

"Hello Miss Greene," the man smiled. "Heard you weren't great at keeping appointments, so I thought I'd come a little earlier,"

* * *

Pepper sat by Tony's side as the lawyer looked over all of the paperwork, piling it up into a mountain that seemed to grow and grow. All of it was legal ramblings, covering all bases to make sure Tony was protected from whatever was about to come out in the press about any of this.

"This isn't the first time someone's claimed Tony as the father of their child," Pepper spoke up, remembering all of the times she was the one in charge of sorting out that mess.

"Except this time no one's claiming it," the lawyer sighed. "The mother isn't around to prove a thing,"

"She's...not around?" Pepper asked, confused.

"She passed away when the child was three and half years old,"

At that, Tony finally spoke up from his still and silent demeanour he had been sporting for the last twenty minutes.

"Wait, run that by me again?" he asked, confused.

"Leah Greene, the woman you remember," the lawyer spoke, lifting up the photo of the woman Tony had been looking at all day. "She's deceased,"

"It didn't say that in the letter," Tony sighed, shaking his head. "So who's claiming all this?"

"Leah's father. He's been in a care facility since Leah passed away, and last week he too passed away. In his will was a statement from Leah and himself, identifying you as the father of Leah's daughter,"

"That doesn't make any sense," Tony scoffed. "Why didn't he expose it all when she died?"

"It says it all in the statement," he explained, handing Tony the document. "You can read it if you like. Basically, he wasn't a fan of you or the fact you allegedly got his daughter pregnant. Didn't want you in the picture unless it was the very last option, and now that he's passed away, we seem to be at the last option."

"So where's the daughter? Was she was the grandfather?" Pepper asked as Tony read over the letter.

"The daughter had no idea about the grandfather. She's been in the system since Leah's passing,"

Tony heart sunk at the lawyers words. Regardless of whether this child was his or not, the idea of a three and a half year old being thrown into foster homes and the social service circus was horrible.

"When can a test be done?" Tony asked.

As absurd as it was to imagine the idea of Tony being a father, there was a very real chance of it being true. Tony remember Leah, he remembered the week he spent with her in Vegas all those years ago, and he knew that this wasn't another false accusation. This was a real possibility.

"We can start the process right now,"

* * *

Sitting in the office of her social worker, Grace tapped mindlessly against the desk with her feet, chewing on her gum loudly as if all of these sounds would drown out all of the chaos going on around her. This was the furthest she had been in finding a family member, and yet she still didn't believe anything would come of it.

They had DNA samples, they had paperwork, they had everything they needed to convince her that it wasn't a dream or a prank. But Grace was far too comfortable in her constant state on denial.

"Where am I off to this time Mike?" she asked, watching the man walk into the room and close the door. "I haven't been North for a while, why not send me that way?"

"You know, you're acting a lot like you don't want to get out of the system," Mike sighed. "How many times have we talked about this Grace?"

Watching him, the smile fell from her face.

"And how many times has it been real? How many times have I been pulled from homes, promised a real family and a nice house and a school? It's all bullshit and you know it,"

"Not this time," he announced, sliding over a file.

Grace looked at the papers in front of her, glancing between them and the man behind the desk. There was no hint of joking, no sign of doubt, only patience. Grace reached out for the file, pulling it into her lap as she flipped open to the first page.

It was an overview of all the tests that had been run over the past few weeks, ensuring all bases were covered and complete accuracy was achieved. Results had been checked multiple times, all signed by the correct officials.

But as she flipped to the next page, her heart beating out of control, her body anxious and trembling, she was sure there had been a mistake.

"Anthony...Stark?" she asked, looking up at Mike. "Stark? As in...as in Tony Stark?"

* * *

 **One Day Before**

Tony sat out on the balcony of his Malibu home, looking out at the waves crashing against the shore beneath the cliff, listening to the wind blow wildly. It was almost midnight, but Tony had no plans to try and sleep. It was going to be useless.

These past fews days had been the hardest in his life, and that was saying something. In all these years, Leah Greene had never crossed his mind. Since the last night they spent together in Vegas all those years ago, she had been lost among his memories. And all that time, she had given birth to their child and raised her for three years on her own without a single word to the billionaire.

And now that child, his child, had suffered through a life he wouldn't wish on anyone.

Tony always thought that when he became a father, he would devote all he had to making sure their life was better than his own. They would be appreciated, nurtured and supported all through their life. And they would be safe and loved always, they would never have to question that.

And now, without his knowledge, he had ruined all of that.

"Tony?"

Turning to Pepper's tired voice, Tony did his best to reassure her with a small smile.

"Just getting some air," he told her softly. "Go back to bed,"

Ignoring his words, Pepper walked over to him and placed her hands on either side of his face, feeling him lean into her touch. Pepper knew every tone of his voice and what it all meant, and right now she knew he didn't want to be alone.

"Talk to me," she encouraged.

Tony closed his eyes, lifting a hand to place on top of hers, feeling her warmth.

"I don't know if I can do this," he admit quietly. "I'm not a father, Pepper. Maybe this kid is better off without me,"

"This girl has been from family to family her whole life," Pepper shook her head. "Now she finally has a real family, and that's you. I bet all her life she dreamed of having a father, and now you're here,"

"She dreamed of having a father, not me. Look at everything I've done in my life Pep, and all that time...that girl, my daughter..."

Pepper held Tony close, pressing a kiss to the top of his head.

"Don't do this to yourself," she pleaded. "You have a chance now to give this girl a life, a good life. You are the only family she has in this world, and I know you would never turn your back on that,"

Tony nodded, knowing that no matter how much he argued with himself or how much guilt he felt, leaving his daughter to anyone else wasn't an option.

"Her mom seemed to hate my guts, her grandfather too," he shook his head. "Maybe she'll hate me too,"

"Let's just focus on meeting her tomorrow, okay? One day at a time,"

"Right," Tony nodded, rubbing his eyes. "If I don't have a heart-attack before then,"

* * *

 **The Day They Met**

Grace wore a pair of black jeans with her sneakers, a maroon hoodie thrown on over her long brown hair which had a matching black beanie pulled down over the top. To anyone else, she looked like a typical fifteen year old teenager. But to everyone else in the quiet, emptied-out cafe, she was Tony Stark's surprise offspring.

"How long do I have to be here?" she asked Mike who walked beside her toward the cafe doors.

"Depends," he sighed. "Getting to know your father can take some time,"

Folding her arms in annoyance, Grace bit down on her lip as she paused by the door. The moment she walked inside, she was officially going to be someone's daughter. And not just a temporary one.

Inside the cafe, Tony saw the teenager approaching, and then stopping just outside the door. His heart almost jumped out of his chest with worry as he considered the possibility of the child running off, refusing to take a step inside to meet him. He couldn't blame her at all if that's what she chose to do, but just seeing a glimpse of the girl make Tony wish she was right in front of him.

From his research, he had found a few baby pictures of Grace along with some of her and Leah when she was a baby. But nothing about what she looked like now. He wanted to see for himself the reflection of Leah in her looks, the reflection of himself.

Pepper sat by his side, squeezing his hand, watching the same girl outside pull the door open and step into the cafe.

Tony's lips parted at the sight of the girl, immediately seeing Leah. She looked just like her mother, she had her nose and her frame, even the way she walked mimicked Leah. But as each step brought her closer, Tony could see parts of himself in the teenager's looks.

With all tests aside, with no context or knowledge of anyone else, Tony knew this girl was his daughter.

"Mr. Stark," Mike greeted, extending his hand for Tony to shake before turning to the girl at his side. "This is Grace."

* * *

 _ **I hope you're enjoying this story! Please let me know in the reviews what your thoughts are for the chapters, even though they are all uploaded together, i would LOVE to hear from you guys.**_


	2. Chapter 2

Pepper looked over to where Tony sat across from Grace, worrying that leaving them together on their own wasn't the best idea. But Mike had insisted that it was the best way for them to get to know one another, without the influence of either of them sitting by their sides.

"She looks terrified," Pepper noted.

"So does he," Mike added, glancing over at the pair.

A moment passed before Pepper turned back to the social worker, taking a sip of her coffee before speaking.

"She didn't want to come here, did she?"

"Grace has had a lot of...false alarms," he explained, frowning. "There's never been anywhere permanent for her, and I don't think she realizes yet that Tony is actually her father and there's no changing that."

They both looked back over to the table in the corner, wondering what the two were talking about.

So far all Tony could do was stare back into the eyes of his daughter, his own eyes wide with wonder and curiosity. She mirrored his big, brown eyes, and he could easily get lost in them. There was so much he wanted to know, to ask, and yet he restrained himself from doing so.

If anyone here deserved answers, before anyone else, it was Grace.

"You look like her," Tony admit after a few moments of silence.

"My mom?" Grace asked, voice soft and cautious. "You remember her?"

"I do, yeah," he nodded. "Especially seeing you, I feel like I'm looking right at her,"

Grace looked down at her hands, fidgeting in her lap.

"Sometimes I forget what she looked like," she told him softly. "And what her voice sounded like. I can barely remember,"

Watching Grace closely, Tony's heart ached. This girl, his daughter, had lived without her parents for so long she couldn't even remember what it was like. She couldn't remember the sound of her mother's voice, and until today she had never imagined having a father. It made him feel sick to his stomach that his own daughter had lived with such pain and loneliness while he carried on his lavish lifestyle.

"She sounded as beautiful as she looked," Tony reminded. "And she was smart, and she was funny, and very out of my league,"

Grace smiled slightly at his words, her face lifting to meet Tony's gaze.

"Did she like you?" she asked.

"Not at first," Tony chuckled. "But no one really does,"

Another moment went by in silence as Grace thought about her mother and Tony meeting all those years ago. In all her life, Grace had created an idea of who her father would be, and she would have never guessed it to be Tony Stark.

This man had been all over the news since she was a child, and she remembered watching along with the rest of the world when the billionaire was revealed to be Iron Man. Not only was the man a public figure, but he was now a saviour and hero to those who he protected. He was everything children dreamed their parents would be and yet Grace didn't feel the overwhelming excitement she should have. Instead she felt fear and worry.

The life her father led and the life she led were very different on so many levels. It was one thing to be rejected by a mother and father who weren't her own, but to be shunned by the father she had wondered about her whole life would crush her. Which is why she never let herself believe he was out there.

"Why didn't you know about me?" she asked, cutting to the point.

The small smile on Tony's face fell slightly, fearing the question. He knew it was one he had to answer, and he knew it was one she needed to ask. If he was in her place, it would be the first thing out of his mouth.

"I used to be...well, I was a lot less mature than I am now," Tony explained. "Not fit to be a father, and I think your mom knew that, and I think she knew it'd be better for you if I didn't know,"

"That worked out wonders," Grace muttered.

"She made the right choice. I wasn't in any shape to think of anyone other than myself, and you would have grown up to hate me," he continued.

"At least I wouldn't have grown up in a different home every couple of months, in a new place, surrounded by strangers," Grace countered. "Why didn't you go back to her? Why didn't you check up on her?"

Tony could feel his heart pick up it's pace, feeling the pain of every word Grace spoke and the guilt swirling in his stomach.

"I was a different person back then-"

"You didn't plan to see her again, did you?" she asked. "It's fine, it's not like I had a picture of my parents being a fairytale couple."

To hear Grace refer to him as a 'parent' almost took his breath away, hearing how real this all was.

"I wasn't the greatest guy back in the day," Tony admit. "But if I had any idea about you, I would have done everything to find you,"

Grace looked up at him, watching his expression, the desperation in his eyes. Tony Stark was telling her the truth, and she could see that. The man she had witnessed on the news being so arrogant and selfish was the same man sitting across from her now, and she wasn't sure which was real.

"It doesn't make sense for you to be my father," she shook her head. "None of this makes sense to me. You're...you're Tony Stark. I remember seeing you on TV when I was a kid, I remember people talking about you, I remember you going missing, I watched you announce you were Iron Man! You...you can't be..."

It was hard to ignore the hurt Tony felt at Grace's denial, but he had to remember that it was the same denial he felt when he first found out about her. It was too overwhelming to see any logic or truth, they were so far from each other's worlds. And denial was all Grace knew. All through her life she could never let herself feel safe or assured of anything or anyone, and it was a hard habit to rid.

"I know it doesn't seem real, but...you are my daughter," he nodded. "Four DNA tests by the best labs I know. I wouldn't drag you into any of this if there was even a chance of doubt, I know what you've been through."

"You don't know anything about me," Grace denied. "You don't know what I've been through or what my life has been, you've only read a file. I've never even seen a mansion with my own two eyes and that's what you call home. I don't know anything about your world. This little cafe? This is probably the fanciest place I've set foot. Look at me, I look more like a homeless junkie than I do Tony Stark's kid,"

"You think all that is important to me? That's it's all about status and appearances and money?" he asked, becoming defensive. "I don't give a shit about any of that, any of it. I don't care if you wear a paper bag and never shower, you are still my daughter and I will regret for the rest of my life that I never knew you were born."

Tony could see Grace's eyes growing with water and he wondered if it was from sadness or frustration, but he didn't say a word. He let her sit in silence, ignoring the fact that Pepper and Mike were very obviously watching them closely since their voices began to rise moments earlier.

Nothing in Tony's life mattered more than right now, convincing his daughter that she didn't need to be anything other than who she was in order to be his child. There was no mold she had to fit into, no standards she had to meet, no expectations.

"So what is all of this?" she asked, genuinely confused. "Do you...do you want to be my dad? Do we play happy family?"

"It's all up to you Grace, I won't make you do a thing you don't want to do. I know my life seems crazy and I sometimes do a lot of stupid things and I'm not the most mature guy and I don't make great decisions, but you are my first priority now. Above anything and everything."

"You don't know me," she shook her head, voice soft and far less defensive. "You don't know what I'm like, you don't know if you'll even want me-"

"I am not one of those foster homes," he assured firmly. "If you choose to come live with me, that's it. That's your home, always. I'm not leaving you, I promise. I missed out on 15 years of your life, I don't plan on missing any more."

Grace wanted to believe his words, and to an extent she did, but there had been so many times she heard this speech from others and it never went to plan. It never lasted, and it would be stupid for her to believe this time would be different, even if it felt real.

* * *

Pepper had offered to drive a dozen times, but Tony insisted he wanted to. After the whirlwind of emotions at the cafe and watching Grace leave with the social worker, Tony wanted to take his mind off things and focus on the road back to their Malibu home. But Pepper couldn't stop worrying. The way Tony's hands gripped the steering wheel, the way his jaw clenched and the silence they had been sitting through for ten minute was eating away at her.

"Tony," she began softly. "Don't shut me out,"

With a gentle sigh, Tony shook his head, slowing to a red light.

"I'm not trying to," he admit.

"Then talk to me, what are you thinking about?" she asked, reaching over to rest her hand on his thigh.

"I want her to be with me," he told her, his voice low and nervous as he continued to drive. "I have no idea how I'm going to be a father and I don't know if she even likes me, but I...I can't stand the thought of her out there living in some group home with strangers or social workers. I'm her father, she is my daughter and I want to be the one who looks out for her."

Pepper couldn't help smile a little at his words. He could call himself immature all day, and the media could portray him that way as many times as they'd like, but Pepper knew the truth. The things that were important to Tony Stark always came first, and there was not one ounce of selfishness or immaturity when it came to taking on his daughter.

"She wouldn't have came today if she didn't like you Tony," Pepper assured.

"She almost didn't, and she seems to already have a pretty good idea of who I am thanks to my whole life playing out in front of her in the news," he explained.

"Give her time. She's spent 15 years without a father and to find out he's someone so well known, it would be scary. Mike told me this isn't the first time they thought they found her family," Pepper frowned. "I can't imagine what she's thinking. She needs time to process everything that's happened in the last few weeks and especially after today. But that absolutely doesn't mean she dislikes you,"

A few more minutes passed in silence as Tony thought about Pepper's words. Grace needed time, he knew that, but after so long without knowing he had a daughter, all he wanted right now was to be the father she needed for so long. But too much had happened for that to be so simple so quickly.

As they continued their drive around Malibu at sunset, Tony imagined the life Grace could have with him. Everything new she could experience, everywhere new she could visit, friends she could make, a family.

"I know we haven't talked about...about how weird this could be for us," Tony began. "And I'm new to this whole stable relationship thing...but I know that bringing a kid into all of this isn't what either of us were expecting-"

"Tony," Pepper shook her head, cutting him off. "She is your daughter. Yes, it's going to change things, but I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to be here through whatever happens, and I will do anything I can to help give Grace the life she deserves,"

With one more turn, Tony had driven into the long driveway of the Malibu mansion and pulled over abruptly. Before Pepper could say a word, he leaned over and crushed his lips to hers in a desperate, loving kiss.

"You're something else, you know that?"


	3. Chapter 3

Looking down at the tattered copy of Harry Potter in her hands, Grace tried to begin the chapter once again while ignoring Lewis chatting away beside her, but it became almost impossible to take in any words on the paper with his voice constantly by her ear. Even if this happened to be the one book Grace had lost count of reading, it was the only way to get her mind off all the chaos going on.

But all of that chaos was the only thing Lewis could talk about.

"So you could be living in a mansion in Malibu?" he asked for the tenth time, his eyes still wide. "And you're still here in this shit hole?"

Rolling her eyes, Grace closed the cover of the book she knew she wasn't going to get to read that afternoon. The group home she was staying in might not have been a five star hotel, or even a two star, but it was all that she knew.

"This isn't moving into a new family for a few months," she huffed, frustrated. "This is...that'll be the rest of my life,"

Lewis stared back at her with a frown. He had known Grace for years as each of them went in and out of foster homes, eventually always making their way back to the same group home together. But through it all, there had been one dream they both shared - finding their home. A home they would never have to leave, a home they were always wanted and welcomed.

"Do you know how many people would kill to be in your shoes?" he asked. "And not because you're going to have this amazing house or lifestyle, but because you have a father out there that wants you. He wants you in his life, which is more than any of us could even imagine,"

"It's different," she shook her head.

"Different how?"

"All those homes, all those families...we all run our course there, don't we? No one ever wants to have a foster kid longer than they have to, and who's to say a real parent isn't the same?" she explained, her voice trailing off softly. "At least when a carer doesn't want me they can send me back here, but where's he going to send me?"

Lewis looked back at his friend sadly, shaking his head at her words.

"You're scared he won't want you, and you haven't even given him a chance,"

"It's not hard math Lewis," she scoffed. "One unwanted kid who has holes in every piece of clothing, and one billionaire who's probably never worn the same shirt twice. Trust me, it's not gonna work."

"Not with that attitude," he mumbled, sitting back against the wall and folding his arms. "Can you do me and every else here a favour?"

Grace looked back at the boy with a small glare, knowing he was going to continue with this topic.

"Lewis-"

"For all of us who haven't got shit, who've got no one out there wanting us, just give it a shot," he pleaded. "You owe it,"

* * *

Tony stood by the door of the once spare room, looking around at everything he had moved in there over the past few days. It was everything a teenager could want and need, but it wasn't so much that it was overwhelming, especially to someone coming from very little.

"I don't want her to think I'm trying to win her over with money and...and things," Tony worried, his voice nervous and uneasy.

"You're overthinking it," Pepper shook her head. "This is perfect,"

"I know it's only one night and I know she might not want to jump straight into all of this just yet...but I hope she's comfortable here," he added. "I hope she knows this is her room, whenever she wants it."

It had been two days since Mike had contacted Tony letting him know Grace was ready to visit, and had agreed to trial one night in her possibly new home, and Tony had been panicked ever since. This was what he wanted, without a doubt, and yet he had never been so worried. If Grace didn't feel comfortable here, that was it. If she didn't like the house, if she didn't like Tony or Pepper, that was it.

There was a lot at stake, and even compared to all the horrors Tony had seen in the past few years, he had never been more on edge.

Hours passed since Tony had last looked at the clock, knowing that time would just slow down the more he watched it, and it was now almost six. He was beginning to think Grace might have changed her mind as the minutes ticked by, but soon enough Jarvis had informed him that a car was approaching.

"Pepper!" he called out, knowing she was in the next room at her desk. "She's here!"

Tony hurried over to the door, hesitating whether or not he should meet them outside or wait for a knock at the door. Every single move he made was overthought and that was new to Tony - and he hated it.

He chose to open the door and stand outside, watching the car drive closer until it eventually parked in the bay by the path. Pepper had followed him out, smiling toward Grace and Mike as they both stepped out of the car.

"It's nice to see you both again," Pepper greeted.

"You too Ms Potts," Mike smiled, extending his arm. "Mr. Stark,"

"Hope the drive wasn't too crazy, traffic around here is a little insane," Tony conversed, hoping his nerves would fade away soon. "Grace, please tell me you like pizza."

A small smile pulled at the teen's lips.

"Yeah, it's in my top 5 foods,"

"Top 5 foods, huh? I'll need to here these rankings," he chuckled.

"Lucky for you Tony isn't making the pizza," Pepper added. "So it should be safe to stay in your top 5,"

Grace laughed at the woman, feeling slightly more at ease. The whole situation wasn't exactly awkward, but it was far from normal. They were all nervous, and they could all tell.

"Would you like to come in, Mike?" Pepper asked. "I've just put on some coffee if you'd like some for the road,"

"I can't say no to coffee," Mike smiled, following Pepper inside.

That left Grace and Tony standing outside the front door silently, wondering what they were supposed to do next. Grace had spent nights at potential foster homes many times before, but this was very different to those visits. This felt more real. More permanent.

"Want to bring your stuff inside?" Tony asked after a moment.

"Uh, yeah," Grace nodded, carrying in her overnight bag.

Tony opened the door for Grace to step through, hoping that she wouldn't change her mind the moment she entered the house. Tony knew his tastes were quite expensive, but that was the life he was used to ever since he was a child. But Grace was used to nothing like this, and as a result she always felt unbelievably out of place.

It only took one step onto the marble floor for Grace's lips to part in shock. She had only seen mansions in movies, and this one was bigger and better than them all. Everything looked so new and expensive, she felt like she was walking into a ballroom or museum.

"I can tell you that 90% of the interior design in this house is useless and probably unnecessary," Tony joked, closing the door once they were inside.

"It's...it's bigger than I even imagined," she nodded. "It's nice,"

"You don't have to say that," he chuckled. "It's over-the-top. I knew that when I was designing it,"

"You designed this?" she asked, rather shocked.

"I mean, I was paying for it so I thought it might as well be exactly the way I want it," he shrugged. "You can put your bag down, I'll show you around,"

Grace looked around and chose to sit her bag by the staircase, wondering just how big the house was on the upper level. Tony smiled as she looked around curiously, slowly beginning to relax. He lead her into the living room, explaining that he rarely had guests over to use most of the space in there. A massive television screen took up most of the wall opposite the luxurious sofas, something that Tony told her was perfect for Halloween movie viewings.

"Best movie to watch on that is Jaws," Tony smirked.

"I haven't seen that," Grace shook her head.

"What? You haven't seen Jaws?" Tony frowned, shocked. "It's a classic,"

"Maybe we can watch it one day," Grace suggested without even thinking.

Tony smiled back at her, unable to hold back his grin.

"Absolutely," he nodded. "As long as you don't mind not swimming again for a few months,"

They continued around the house for a few more minutes, Grace's eyes wide with wonder the whole time, while Tony explained that she was welcome everywhere. She might have been just visiting for the night, but as far as Tony was concerned this was now just as much her home as it was his.

As they made their way from the balcony outside into the living room, Grace was startled by the looming voice of Jarvis.

"Sir, Mr. Peters is about to depart,"

Tony could see from the corner of his eyes that Grace jumped at the sound of the A.I voice. He hadn't made it to the explanation of Jarvis just yet, and now he was regretting not informing her sooner.

"That's just the A.I," he assured. "Just a computer program I installed in the house, sort of like..."

"Like an assistant?" she guessed.

"Yeah, an assistant," he nodded with a smile. "Helps me stay on top of things. I call him Jarvis,"

"Jarvis?"

"Yes, Miss Greene?" the A.I responded.

Tony smirked, holding back a small chuckle at her surprise.

"He'll answer to you as well," Tony explained. "If you need anything, if you're looking for anything, he'll help."

"This is crazy," she shook her head, looking up at the ceiling. "He's like Big Brother,"

"He's much nicer," Tony assured with a laugh. "And nowhere near as creepy,"

"So he just...just watches-"

"No, no, purely security and just general helpful-ness," he assured.

"Huh," Grace mused. "So if I asked him what the weather was...?"

Tony smirked and shrugged his shoulders.

"Give it a shot,"

Grace smiled, folding her arms.

"Jarvis, how's the weather?" she asked, feeling slightly odd asking the house a question.

"It is currently 62 degrees outside Miss Greene," Jarvis responded. "There is a 74% chance of rain around 7.30pm this evening,"

Looking up at Tony, Grace's mouth was almost hanging open in awe. She hadn't witnessed anything like it before, and although she had always read stories of Tony Stark's technology fuelled life, she never imagined this.

A few moments later they made their way to the front door once again where Mike stood with a to-go cup of coffee in his hands. He and Pepper were laughing about something, a smile remaining on their lips as they watched the two approach.

"Enjoying the tour?" Pepper asked. "I promise it's not as confusing as it looks. Whoever designed this place must have been out of their mind,"

Grace laughed at that, looking between the woman and Tony as they exchanged a small retort.

"Okay, you all set Grace?" Mike asked. "Pepper's got my number if you need me, but I think you'll be just fine."

"Yeah, I'll be fine," she assured, feeling much more confident about her decision to stay here.

Tony could see the smile on her face was genuine and he swore he hadn't felt so happy in a long time. Grace, his daughter, wanted to be here. All of the worries Tony had leading up to this moment were suddenly silenced by that smile.


	4. Chapter 4

dfgdGrace had countless bedrooms as she grew up, changing every couple of months and sometimes every few weeks. After a few moves, she learned to never unpack, knowing that at any moment she could be told to move once again. But none of the bedrooms in any of the homes she had been shuffled around compared to the one she stood in now.

It was bigger than the living room of the group home she was in, and she was sure it could fit several of her old bedrooms inside. There was a king-sized bed to her left, up against a wall that hung beautiful lights above dressers on either side of the bed. Across from the bed was a build in closet that Grace had no idea how she would ever fill if she lived here, and to the right was her very own bathroom. A luxury she had never experienced.

"This…is my room?" she asked softly, turning to Tony with wide eyes.

"All yours," Tony smiled, sliding his hands into his pockets nervously. "If you want it, that is. I know it looks bare, kinda of like a hotel room at the moment, but its yours to do whatever you'd like. Move things around, put in shelves, hang posters, its up to you. This is your space, okay?"

Grace smiled at his words, turning back to the large room and looking out the window. The view was stunning. She could see the waves crashing on the beach just down from the house, and she was sure if she opened the windows she could even hear them.

"Are you sure?" she questioned, looking over to her overnight bag that sat by the door. "You don't have to give me this room, I won't take up this much space-"

"Hey, I'm not giving you this room. It is your room, okay? Whatever you choose, this is your room, whenever you want it. I don't care how much space you do or don't take up, okay? You're welcome here, anywhere you want,"

Grace grinned back at the man.

"Okay," she nodded.

Tony smiled happily in return.

"So, how'd I do on the tour?" he asked. "Top marks?"

"Top marks," Grace laughed. "But if I get lost, it's nice to have someone to help out," she pointed to the ceiling, indicating to Jarvis.

Tony smirked, feeling as though Grace was feeling comfortable here. He hoped she didn't feel too overwhelmed by everything and that he wasn't talking too much or bombarding her with information, but he had a feeling Grace could tell he was nervous. They both were. But they were quickly easing into it.

"Hungry?"

Grace nodded, immediately feeling her stomach rumble in response.

"Great. Pepper's going to order some pizza now, do you have a preference?" he asked.

"Extra cheesy," she grinned.

Tony mimicked her expression.

"Good to know we agree on that," he laughed. "They won't take long, but if you want to take a minute to settle in or take a shower, feel free, okay? We could do pizza, pyjamas and a movie kind of night if you're up for it,"

Grace smiled and nodded at his suggestion, excited to spend the night feeling comfortable and relaxed rather than formal and intimidated.

"Yeah, that'd be great," she nodded. "I'll just take a quick shower,"

"Don't rush," Tony insisted. "We'll be downstairs in the living room, okay? Take your time."

"Okay,"

Tony flashed another smile before he turned toward the door, pulling it closed behind him as he made his way down to Pepper. Which left Grace alone in the huge room she was supposed to call her own. There was a small grin on her lips at the idea of having this all to herself. Fifteen was a sensitive age for any teenage girl, it was nice to think about having some privacy and comfort where she lived.

Grace was thinking more and more about the idea of living here in Tony's luxurious house, but she had to make sure all of this didn't cloud her judgment. She had to make sure she wanted to be here for her own reasons instead of convenience. She wanted family, she wanted a father, and she didn't care if that was here or in a tin shed in the middle of nowhere. Grace wanted her family.

* * *

It was fifteen minutes later when Grace walked out of her bedroom, freshly showered and in her comfortable pyjamas. She was ready for bed after her relaxing shower, but nothing kept her awake like the promise of food, and she really did look forward to spending time with Tony and Pepper. It was odd to suddenly be in a house where she was the only child, but it was a good kind of odd. Grace finally felt like she was experiencing life separate to the ordeal of foster care or group homes. A life she hadn't lived since she was very young.

Grace couldn't help picturing her mother in this house. If Tony did find out about Grace, if he and her mother had decided to create a life for their daughter, would it still be here like this?

But she couldn't let her mind linger on those thoughts. Her mom was at peace now, and no matter what her opinions on Tony were, she wouldn't want her daughter to be alone. Grace was sure of that.

As she continued to walk down the hall of the house, her lips parted in awe at something she saw sitting on one of the small tables. It was a piece of the Iron Man suit, scattered in pieces around screwdrivers and wires. A piece of the infamous suit she had only ever seen on television and read about.

"Don't tell Pepper that's there," Tony's voice came from around the corner, a small grin on his lips. "I was meant to tidy up,"

"Is it broken?" she asked.

"No, not broken, just doing some upgrades,"

Grace turned back to it, her eyes wide.

"You really made all of this?"

Tony watched her eyes scan over the pieces, utterly amazed and completely curious. Iron Man had become so normal to him now and to the people in his life, he had to remind himself that Grace had never been around this before.

"Yeah, one of my better bad ideas," he explained with a small grin. "Most of the time it causes more trouble than it helps,"

"I doubt the people you saved would agree with that," Grace scoffed, turning to him. "Especially everyone at that Expo a few months ago,"

"Heard about that, huh?"

"It was on every channel," she explained, a small smile on her lips. "And the part where you went crazy and blew up your house,"

Tony was finally feeling that moment that every parent dealt with in their lives. The moment a child brings up the shameful moment of their mother or father, one they would be lectured about, and makes the parent feel like the reckless teenager instead. In Tony's case, he was sure this would be a common occurrence. After all, Grace had many years of Tony's life archived in the media and countless moments she would be able to use again him in the future.

"At least I remodelled?" he shrugged, laughing a moment later when he saw Grace's lips turn up in a grin.

It was hard to believe that all those months ago he wasn't even sure he would survive another week with his poisoning, and now he was a father. He had everything to live and fight for.

"Pizza?" he suggested a moment later.

"Mm," Grace sighed, beginning to follow him out to the living room. "Please,"

As soon as Grace could smell the pizza Pepper was arranging on the small table, she felt like she hadn't ate in days. All morning she had been putting off eating because of her nerves for the afternoon, and then on the drive to Malibu she could barely stomach the bottle of water she brought along with her. But now she was more relaxed, she was starving.

Pepper was dressed in pyjamas too, her long strawberry blonde hair tied up high in a ponytail as she sat by the table with her legs folded. She looked up at Grace with an excited grin, gesturing for her to sit wherever she would like.

"Dig in," Pepper encouraged. "Do you need a plate?"

Grace paused halfway through bringing a slice of piping hot pizza to her mouth, lips hanging open as she shook her head.

"I'm fine, thanks," she smiled before almost inhaling the pizza.

Tony sat down around the table as well, grinning at the sight of Grace finishing off a slice while reaching for another. It had been a long time since he had been around a teenage appetite, and he was glad they had ordered four pizzas just to be safe.

"Oh my god," Tony mumbled around his own slice of pizza. "This is almost as good as when I make pizza,"

Pepper scoffed, almost spitting out the soda she had in her mouth. She remembered the last time Tony attempted to cook anything. They had just remodelled the house, including the kitchen, and Tony almost melted every appliance and filled the house with smoke.

"Grace, trust me on this, if Tony ever offers to cook, just order in," Pepper advised.

Grace let out a snort of laughter, looking over to Tony who was just shaking his head in return.

"I'm not as bad as Pepper makes out," he defended.

"He is," she assured.

"I can make pancakes,"

Pepper thought for a moment.

"Okay, I'll give you that one," she nodded. "Maybe Grace can test them tomorrow,"

"If she's brave enough," Tony laughed. "What do you say?"

"I'm in," Grace nodded eagerly.

"Huh, someone excited to eat my food," Tony smiled. "It's about time,"

Pepper rolled her eyes and chuckled lightly, reaching out to place a hand on Grace's shoulder.

"You'll get used this,"

Grace smiled in return, still munching away on another slice of pizza. As each minute passed, Grace could picture her life here with Tony and Pepper more and more. Being here wasn't like being in a foster home with a family who sent her to her room or just didn't care to acknowledge she existed. It was like being around people she had known her whole life, when in reality they were basically strangers to Grace.

But something felt right about being here.

"So, how about that movie?" Tony spoke up again a moment later. "Any suggestions?"

"Nothing scary," Grace shook her head. "I swear I won't be able to sleep,"

"I agree," Pepper nodded. "Something funny,"

Tony grabbed the remote and began scrolling through the list of comedy movies on the screen, wondering what to choose. As they all looked at the movies on the lists, Grace began a new slice of pizza, leaning back against the couch and wondering what half of these movies were.

"Ace Ventura?" Tony suggested.

"Pass," Pepper shook her head.

"Ghostbusters?" Grace asked, looking between the two. "I mean...it's not scary, is it?"

Tony looked over to her, his mouth almost falling to the floor.

"You haven't seen Ghostbusters? It's a classic!"

Grace chuckled lightly and shrugged, shaking her head.

"I've seen bits and pieces,"

"That's unacceptable. Pepper, I think it's time for popcorn, the movie's decided!" he announced, beginning to stand up and head to the kitchen.

"Whoa, whoa," Pepper called out. "I'll make the popcorn Tony,"

"I can microwave popcorn Pepper," he argued.

Pepper laughed as she stood up, wandering over to him with a grin as she pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"Let's not set off the fire alarm on her first night,"

Tony could agree with her there. He was genius, his mind could work wonders, and yet every time he stepped into the kitchen something almost burnt or broke. Even the food he could make well always ended up causing some sort of damage to the kitchen. But he didn't want to risk a thing startling Grace tonight, especially not the piercing sound of their fire alarm.

Heading back into the living room, Tony lifted one of the small hampers in the corner and pulled out a few fluffy blankets. He tossed one on the large couch, and then handed one to Grace who still sat on the floor just in front of the armchair she would spread herself out in a moment.

"You know you're welcome to anything in the fridge, okay?" he told her. "There's soda, water, juice, go wild. Don't sit there thirsty, alright?"

Grace smiled up at him.

"Thank you,"

"You don't have to thank me every time you eat or drink," he grinned. "Everything here is yours too, understand?"

Grace wrapped herself in the blanket as she stared over at Tony, making herself comfortable.

"Don't you want to know more about me? I mean...before I'm here for good?" she asked cautiously.

Tony tilted his head and pulled his brows together.

"I'm not going to interview you," he explained. "You're not renting a room here, you're my daughter,"

"I know," she sighed. "I just...I want to make sure..."

Tony hated the idea of Grace feeling like she couldn't speak her mind here. This was her home too, and the last thing he wanted was for her to be stepping on eggshells around him.

"You can talk to me,"

"I just want to make sure," she explained. "That you want me,"

Tony's heart ached at her words. There was not a single bone in his body that didn't want Grace in his life. She was everything to him now, the most important person in the entire universe and his whole world now. She was his flesh and blood, his child, and he had no doubts at all about wanting her in his life. It killed him to know that Grace was so afraid of his rejection, when it was completely the other way around.

"You are the only thing I've ever been sure about in my life," he told her firmly. "I want to be in your life whatever way you'll have me. I want you be safe, I want you to have a home, to know that you are absolutely, without a doubt, wanted."

Grace could feel her heart racing at his words. No foster family had ever spoken so sincerely and lovingly to her before, and she was now realising what it was like to be spoken to by someone who genuinely cared about her. By a father.

"I don't want you to ever think I'm not sure about you, okay?"

Grace responded by staring back at him with a small smile, her eyes threatening to fill with tears. Happy tears, relieved tears.

"Okay," she nodded.

Tony smiled at her in return, seeing his own reflection in the way she shyly grinned. It was never not going to be surreal for him to notice these moments when he was hit with the reality that he was a father, that this child had his features and expressions. That this was the beginning of the biggest and most important chapter of his life.


	5. Chapter 5

As soon as Grace opened her eyes the next morning, she had to remind herself of where she was. She reached out her arms in either side, unable to feel the sides of the bed, as if it went on and on forever. She had never even had a double bed for herself, let alone anything bigger. As she pushed herself up, yawning and rubbing her eyes, she could see the Malibu sun shining in through the windows so faintly, as if the light didn't want to wake her.

There was far too much space in this room, but as Tony had told her, it was all her own space. She didn't have to fill it, she didn't have to share it, it was just hers to do with whatever she liked. She imagined waking up here every morning, without any other children running in and causing havoc, without yelling families arguing in the next room, without any of the drama and uncertainty she had grown so used to.

It felt odd waking up to silence, but it was surprisingly peaceful. Until she heard the buzzing of her phone on the dresser.

Have u seen the news? - Lewis

With a small frown, Grace exited the message and opened her browser, yawning once again. They had all gone to bed around 11pm after watching Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II, and even though it was 9am, Grace could easily go right back to sleep for a few more hours.

But she was wide awake at the sight of today's headline.

Meet Tony Stark's Daughter

Her heart was racing as she reread the words, making sure she wasn't imagining the headline that the whole world was seeing. As she clicked into the article, she saw her name printed in the first sentence, without any doubt.

Grace Emilia Greene

Grace continued to scroll along the article, reading everything they had exposed about her for everyone to see. They had found where she had been living and they had interviewed families she had been with in the past, letting the world know that Tony Stark's daughter had grown up in the foster care system. As if it was something to be ashamed of, something that Tony could be publicly called out for, and something the world could hold against him.

This journalist hadn't even included the fact that Tony was unaware she even existed, or that her mother kept her pregnancy a secret. All it did was report on where Grace had been for the last fifteen years. There were two of her school photos printed within the article, placed right next to Tony's own school photos at the same age, pointing out the comparison between the two.

As she continued on, she could feel her anger rising with each word she read.

Slamming her phone down on the dresser once again, Grace threw herself back into the pillows behind her and pulled the blankets up to cover her face. Whatever she chose to do now, whether she wanted to live at the group home or here with Tony, she was no longer an anonymous teenager. The world knew who she was, and any privacy she had left was going to be stripped away.

Dragging herself out of bed, Grace had no doubt in her mind that Tony and Pepper would have read the article by now as well.

"Good morning Miss Greene," Jarvis announced.

Letting out a slight yelp of surprise, Grace put her hand up to her forehead and rubbing her temples. Not only was she trying to grow familiar with this house and everything that came with it, but she had just woken up to the whole world knowing more about her than she ever wanted them to, and Jarvis wasn't helping her current level of anxiety.

"Yeah, good morning to you too," Grace sighed in return, walking into the bathroom.

After a few splashes of cold water against her face, she was feeling a little less on edge. She just needed to take a few deep breaths and deal with this. There was no changing it. Everything about her was out there now, and all she could do was push through.

Walking out of the bedroom and wandering into the hall, Grace thought about how they were supposed to handle all of this. Tony had been familiar with the media prying into his life ever since he was a child, but this was the first time Grace had experienced anything like this.

As she began making her way down the stairs and into the living room, Grace could hear Tony shouting from the kitchen. Peering around the corner, she could see that he was on the phone, his face blank and his jaw rigid. It was the first time she had seen him so angry, and she was glad she wasn't on the other end of that call.

"He doesn't want to talk? Fine, I'll come down and visit in person, would he like that better?" Tony argued, his voice firm and furious. "One way or another, his ass is getting sued and so is your company, how does that sound?"

Tony tossed his phone back down on the counter, gripping it's edges so tight Grace was sure it was about to shatter beneath his grip.

"I've got the lawyers on the other line," Pepper told him, holding two other phones in her hand as she sat on the other side of the counter.

"I want to know how it got out," Tony shook his head. "I want to know how they found her, how they got her photos, how they know her name. This was vice-locked, and someone got in, and it wasn't through my security,"

"Happy's looking into it," Pepper explained.

Looking down at the blank counter before him, Tony leaned in against it and ran his fingers through his hair, taking a deep breath. Pepper reached her hand out to run along his shoulder, but there was little she could do to soothe his worries. She knew how important this time with Grace was for him, for both of them, and to have it shot into the public eye was devastating

"She's just a kid," Tony sighed. "All of this, telling people, dealing with all of the crap that comes with my life was meant to be her choice, not theirs!"

Just as Tony began to continue, Pepper's eyes flickered over to where Grace stood, then back to Tony with a knowing look. A moment later, Tony's head whipped around to look over to her, his eyes wide and sad.

"So, cat's outta the bag, huh?" she laughed nervously, her hands twisting together behind her back.

Tony sighed and shook his head, folding his arms.

"This isn't how I wanted any of it to go," he explained. "It shouldn't have got out, not until you were ready. I'm sorry,"

"You didn't write the story," Grace shrugged. "It's not your fault,"

"It's my job to protect you,"

"You can't protect me from everything, you're not responsible for it," she told him, shrugging once again. "It was my foster families that the interviewed,"

"It's not your fault though, sweetie," Pepper cut in, shaking her head. "Don't think that,"

"It's more my fault than it is yours, that's all I'm saying," Grace explained.

"The media are like vultures, Grace. They latch on to anything surrounding me and they pick it apart, and...and this time it's you," Tony sighed. "And I wanted to explain all of this to you before this ever happened,"

Grace looked back at Tony with a small smile. She appreciated that he cared so much about keeping her safe from all of this, shielding her from the world that wanted to plaster her on every screen and every front page. But it wasn't his fault that this had happened.

"I knew what I was getting myself into," Grace assured. "I've watched you on television while I was growing up, I know that your life gets put on every channel. And I know you didn't ask for that either, just like I didn't ask for this."

"We're taking care of it," Pepper nodded, trying to ease both their worries. "We've got PR teams that handle this, but like Tony said, they're like vultures. It's not fair, and it's not easy on this whole situation, but we're going to take care of it, and you don't have to worry about doing anything, okay? This isn't your fault, and it's our job to fix it,"

Grace looked over to Pepper with a thankful nod, knowing that whoever Tony was on the phone with and whoever Pepper was in the middle of emailing wouldn't have their job by the end of the day. All because they were looking out for her. Both Tony and Pepper were taking care of her. Just like any parents would.

Except this was a situation far from a normal family's, and Tony hated that. With the mess Grace had already lived through, all he wanted was to give her normality. Stability. Not this.

"I uh, cooked those pancakes I promised," Tony began. "You hungry?"

"Yeah," Grace smiled. "Starving,"

"Let's go then," he grinned back, leading her out to the balcony.

They must have been in the middle of preparing everything when news of the article came out. Pepper still had her cup of tea on the table, now cold, and Tony had finished re-warming the pancakes in the oven. They had dropped everything to take care of this mess, and Grace didn't know why that mattered so much to her.

They had a company and reputation to protect, but knowing that they did this to protect her instead felt unbelievably comforting. Grace had never lived in any unsafe homes, but she had also never experienced someone defending her with such passion. Doing everything they could to ensure she didn't get hurt.

"They look good," Grace praised, taking a sip of her glass of juice.

"Looks can be deceiving," he chuckled. "Pepper tasted one and I heard no complaints,"

Grace laughed and grabbed a pancake to put on her plate, topping it with some banana and maple syrup. Tony watched on with a grin as she finished off the first pancake hurriedly, reaching for a second.

Tony was sure that Grace was going to be livid when she woke up to the news the world knew all about her and her past. He would be. He was. And yet here she sat happily eating pancakes as if nothing was happening.

"Doesn't all of this...upset you? Make you mad?" he asked, unable to stop himself.

Grace looked over to him, her mouth full of strawberries and syrup, taking a moment to finish before she spoke.

"Yeah it makes me mad," she answered. "The whole world thinks they know everything about me from a few interviews with families who couldn't keep me for more than a few weeks, people who don't know me at all. They know nothing about what's going on,"

"You don't seem that mad," Tony continued. "Not that it's bad, it's just...I mean, I'm pissed, and you have more of a right than me to be,"

"I was mad this morning when I read it all, but..." she trailed off, almost embarrassed to continue. "I don't know,"

"What?" Tony pushed.

With a small sigh, Grace looked back down at her plate and the surrounding plates of fruit and pancakes. Anywhere but Tony.

"Hearing you so mad, it...it kind of made me realize that I have a...a dad now," she explained softly. "Not a foster parent who just wants their cheque or some praise. You...you actually give a shit,"

Tony's heart began to beat faster and faster in his chest, feeling a lump begin to rise in his throat as he stared over at his daughter. A girl who was much stronger and braver than he ever had been. She was something else entirely.

A smile pulled at Tony's lips as he cleared his throat, looking around to compose himself before he glanced back over to meet her gaze.

"I do," he nodded. "More than you know. More than I know, apparently. That was the sixth phone call I was yelling on this morning. I don't even know what I was threatening, I just know I'm mad,"

"I guess they were going to find out anyway," Grace offered.

"But on your terms," Tony shook his head. "I know what my life looks like to you, it looks the same to me. It's messy, it's overwhelming, it's confusing, and they're in your face every day. They're always looking for something to pick apart, even more now with Iron Man. And that's fine when it's just me dealing with it, I can handle it. Pepper's dealt with me through everything, I know she handle it too. But...but you shouldn't have to. This isn't the life I would have wanted for you,"

Grace knew he meant that, she could see the pain and regret in his eyes.

If Tony knew about Grace years ago, maybe every decision he made would be completely different now. Maybe he wouldn't have chased down arms dealers on his own, or let himself rot away from palladium poisoning without telling a single person, or run into every single battle without a second thought about what it would be hurting. Who it would be hurting.

But everything was different now. There was Pepper, there was Grace, there was a whole life Tony never knew he would ever have for himself.

"I've had a lot of different lives," Grace told him. "I've been with good families and I've been with crappy ones. Good homes, bad homes. I've probably witnessed every type of dynamic there can be in a household, except this one. But no one's ever wanted me, or at least I've never felt it. But you and Pepper...you guys..."

"We do," Tony finished, noticing her nerves. "We want you here, but we would never make you stay if you don't want to be here, and I'm sorry it's started off like this,"

Grace shook her head, wishing he would realize this wasn't his fault.

"I don't really remember my mom, and I don't really have anything left to remember her by," she explained. "But I know she loved me. You know, I used to make up stories about my family when I was growing up in different homes, I think we all did. I would imagine my mom didn't give me a dad because she loved me too much to share,"

Tony watched as Grace chuckled at the memory, although his heart was breaking. He would give anything to go back in time and go back to Leah, to be part of their lives, to watch Grace grow up and be there for her.

"I don't know why she didn't tell you about me, and I don't know why she didn't have something in place when she died, but she wouldn't want me to be on my own. And I've never been on my own, I just...I've never been at home, if that makes sense."

"It does," Tony nodded, enjoying the fact she was comfortable enough to tell him all of this. "I don't want this to force you into a decision Grace. I want you here, I want to give you a home and a normal life. As normal as it can get for this family, anyway. But it's just like you said to me, I want you to be sure,"

Grace smiled over at him, feeling reassured of her choice.

"All my life I've lived with strangers, and as insane as it is to me that I'm here and someone I've seen on TV since I was a kid is actually my father, you don't feel like a stranger to me,"

It was a relief to hear Grace say that, and Tony felt a wave rush over him. He knew he had a reputation for being an asshole, but that last thing he wanted was to continue that impression to his own daughter. The Tony he let the world see was not the Tony he was at all, and Grace now knew that too.


	6. Chapter 6

"Aren't you worried all your baby photos are going to be out there for the whole world to see?" Lewis asked, sitting on the edge of Grace's bed.

Throwing more clothes into one of the boxes, Grace let out a huff and shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't really have many baby photos,"

"Yeah, but...the whole world wants photos of you," he continued. "There's bound to be an embarrassing one in there somewhere,"

"I think it's more embarrassing that I can literally count my baby photos on one hand," Grace explained. "If anything, they'll just be getting the same photos and more bullshit stories. Why are they even interviewing my old foster families? They're all just looking for another cheque, they'll say anything to get it."

Lewis shrugged, turning to look out the window.

"They're animals, that's why. Jesus, they're even out on the street," he gasped.

Grace rolled her eyes and ran a hand through her hair. It had only been five days since the press had found out Grace Greene was Tony Stark's surprise daughter and it felt like she had been hearing and reading about it for weeks. Tony and Pepper had done their best to prepare her for what the journalists would be searching for and what they would be asking her, but Grace was determined not to give them a damn thing.

In all of this, Grace's mother had been mentioned only a few times. They had found a photo of her back in her younger, wilder days that had covered newspapers and magazines all week. They didn't know her mother, and yet they were selling her story like they had interviewed her themselves. It wasn't fair

Leah Greene was no longer here to tell her side of the story, and so the media just made it up. It was the only thing about this entire ordeal that upset Grace beyond words. They could say what they wanted about her, because that's exactly what she had been expecting since finding out about all this, but it made her blood boil to hear them say a bad word about her mother.

It shouldn't have mattered that Leah and Tony weren't in a relationship when Grace was conceived or that they never met again afterwards, her mother was a beautiful woman who didn't deserve this.

"It'll die down," she shrugged, wishing that was true.

"No it won't," Lewis argued. "Grace, they just found out about you. This isn't gonna die down anytime soon, that's for sure."

Grace looked over at her friend a glare, throwing one of her shoes at him.

"You know how nervous I am about all this," she mumbled. "You're making it worse."

Lewis frowned.

"Sorry," he sighed. "This is just...I still can't wrap my head around the fact you're Tony Stark's daughter,"

"Yeah, well believe it or not, it's a little much for me to understand as well."

"And you're going to live with him," Lewis continued. "And I won't see you anymore-"

"What? You'll still see me Lewis," she insisted. "I'm not going into witness protection."

"What, Tony Stark is gonna drive you here every weekend to hang out, is he?" Lewis asked.

Grace scoffed.

"Why are you talking about him like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like you don't like him, and you haven't ever met him,"

"You didn't like him!"

"Yeah, and then I met him!" Grace defended. "I know this is all batshit insane, but he's my father. I have enough trouble convincing myself this isn't a huge prank and I'm going to go back to some shitty family without you, my only friend, making me feel worse about it all."

Lewis sighed and stood up from the bed, hands on his hips.

"Look, I'm sorry. I'm just...I want you to go Grace, I do. I want you to have your family, I want you to have all of that. But...all these years, every time I got sent back here, I wouldn't be too sad, you know? Because I knew you'd be here too. I knew I'd have you."

Grace smiled at him, stepping closer to pull him into a hug.

"You'll always have me," she promised. "Doesn't matter who my father is, you are my family too."

"Malibu isn't exactly around the corner," Lewis sighed, hugging her back. "I guess it's just hitting me,"

"Me too," Grace whispered, pulling back slightly. "But I promise we'll see each other."

"Maybe I can get a foster home close to you," he hoped, grinning. "Hey, a guy can dream can't he?"

Grace laughed, genuinely hoping that could happen, before she turned back to the boxes by her bed.

In all her fifteen years, Grace had racked up quite a collection of useless belongings. There were clothes she hadn't worn since she was a child, shoes that had holes in all corners, books that were barely sticking together. Nothing about her or anything she owned screamed 'Malibu mansion', but it didn't matter.

Spending the weekend with Tony and Pepper changed everything for Grace. Their life, their world, still intimidated Grace more than she could explain. But now she knew that Tony really did want to be her father.

This wasn't a press move. This wasn't for show.

Before Mike had come to pick her up after the news broke of her existence, Tony had been on the phone with his lawyers all morning. Not only were Tony and Pepper doing everything in their power to protect Grace and enforce restraining orders for journalists, photographers and all press in general, but they had also begun arranging the transfer of Grace's custody. Which meant they had to discuss when Grace would move to Malibu.

Which in turn caused a whole sea of conversations to flood into the equation. Grace would have a new school, a new address, a new everything.

"You're allowed to tell us if this gets too much, okay? I know it's a lot to take in," Pepper explained, sitting at the table in front of a stack of documents. "We only want what's best for you, okay? So if you don't like something or it's going too fast, just tell us."

"I'm not having second thoughts," Grace assured with a slight chuckle. "I've been through paperwork like this more times than I can remember."

"Well, you're never going to have to do that again," Pepper grinned.

And it was true. Once Tony had custody of Grace, once the process was finally over, she was never going to have to go through it ever again. No returning to the group home, no case-manager that would check up on her each two weeks until she was sent back, she would finally be home. Really home.

But they still had so much to go through before that happened, even with Tony working with his lawyers to speed up the process. In the end, the care of a child really couldn't be rushed. Tony's life had to be evaluated in order to determine if he was fit to raise a child, to house a child, to provide for a child and ensure their safety. The government really didn't care if he was Iron Man, he had to follow the steps just like any other father.

It was that afternoon when Mike took Grace back to Malibu, ready to spend another night. Even though the official process hadn't even begun yet, Tony had encouraged her to bring along whatever clothes and belongings she wanted to keep here in the meantime. He wanted her to make this house her home, he wanted her to be comfortable and have her own things here, and he didn't care if he was getting ahead of himself. Grace was his daughter and fifteen years had already passed them by - nothing was going to stop him from missing any more of her life.

"Looks better in here already, doesn't it?" Tony grinned, standing by Grace's door.

The teenager had just finished unpacking one box of clothes into the wardrobe and stacking her books along the shelf beside her bed. It wasn't much, and sadly it was the majority of her belongings, but it was starting to look more like a bedroom rather than a generic hotel room.

"Yeah," Grace nodded, sitting down in the middle of the bed.

"How's your week been?" he asked, leaning against the doorframe. "I know the press has been making things hard."

Grace shrugged, grabbing a pillow to clutch against her stomach.

"I think everyone else notices it more than I do," she admit. "I can see them out on the street, and I see all the magazine headlines, but I don't think it's getting to me yet. I'm still trying to wrap my head around all of this, it's hard to even think about the rest of it."

Tony sighed, knowing that all of this must be driving Grace crazy. After all these years, she had just found out she had a father, and it was being tainted by the media.

Tony wished he could just take her out for lunch or go for a walk around the city, but it was far too crazy to do any of that yet. Tony no longer cared about the press following him around and taking photos, it was something he had grown used to, but he wasn't going to subject Grace to that.

"I had Jarvis do a sweep of the net to find anything about you before the media could leak it," he explained, taking a step into the room. "And after searching for a while, he found this."

Sitting on the edge of Grace's bed, Tony handed her a small photograph. Taking it in her hands, Grace felt her lips part in awe as she looked down at the baby in the picture. It was a photograph she had never seen before in her life.

"I didn't even know I had another photo of me as a baby," she gasped, looking at the photo-wide eyed.

"That's not you," Tony shook his head, a small grin on his lips. "It's your mom."

Grace looked up at him in shock, making sure he wasn't joking. Then her eyes glanced back at the photo in her hands, shaking her head in disbelief. The chubby cheeks, the nose, the lips - Grace was sure she was looking at herself.

"I've never...I don't have a picture of my mom," Grace told him softly. "Well, just the one. But I've never...I didn't know I looked like her."

"You look just like her," Tony assured. "I saw it the first time I met you. When I saw that baby photo of you the other day, it had me thinking."

Grace's eyes were glued to the photo, a small smile playing at her lips.

"Can I?"

"Keep it. It's yours," Tony nodded before handing her another. "I've got this one too. I guess it never really hit me until I saw your baby photo, and I went looking for this so I could really see it for myself."

Grace took the second photo, looking down and immediately seeing a baby boy.

"Is this..." she trailed off, pointing toward Tony and watching as gave a nod.

It was Tony, at the same age as Grace in her baby photos. Maybe all of those DNA tests should have been enough to convince Grace that Tony Stark was 100% her father and this wasn't a mistake, but it seemed nothing worked quite like the undeniable resemblance between the two of them. Their eyes were exact replicas, their smile was equally cheeky, and Grace couldn't help her eyes beginning to tear up a bit.

There was her mother and there was her father. Her parents.

"I never thought I'd ever know what my dad looked like," she told him, her voice quiet. "And I was sure I'd never know who he was,"

Tony gave her a soft smile, saddened by the idea of Grace wondering about him all these years. He didn't think that pain would ever go away, not for him. There wouldn't be a day go by that he didn't wish he knew about Grace and that he could have taken her away from all of those foster homes. Fifteen years was a long time to miss.

"I never thought I'd have a kid," Tony admit, breaking their silence. "The whole idea used to scare the hell out of me. I did everything to make sure it wouldn't happen, too. I think that's why your mom didn't tell me she was pregnant with you. I've never been a very mature adult, never really took responsibility for anything, never cared about much at all. I certainly wasn't father material. That's the me that your mom knew."

Grace looked up at him, letting go of her bottom lip that she had been biting.

"That's who I always pictured my dad would be," she shrugged. "I always knew I was a mistake, that's pretty obvious, even to a kid. I knew that whoever my dad was, he didn't want anything to do with me. He didn't want a kid, and he was pretty happy for me to be passed from home to home, as long as none of them were his."

Tony felt his chest tighten at her words, his stomach twisting in knots, pain etched on his face.

"Grace, if I knew about you-"

"No, I'm not blaming you, okay?" she continued, shaking her head. "It's...I never expected that when I did meet him, that he would actually want me, you know? It's one thing to take in a baby you didn't know about or want, but a fifteen year old kid? It just...it wasn't even a possibility to me. I was ready to stay in the system for three more years and then go off on my own. But...you actually did want me, and I...I guess I'm just still really surprised."

"You're surprised I still want you here?" he asked, shaking his head.

Grace shrugged, moving to once again bite against her bottom lip, fiddling with her fingers and suddenly turning shy.

"It's nothing against you or Pepper," she assured softly. "But it just doesn't feel real to me. Like I'm gonna wake up one day back at the home with no family, right back where I was."

Tony sighed, reaching over to take her hand in his. He had never been great with emotional moments, but something inside him made him want to plead with her.

"I promise you, that is never going to happen. Look, I know I'm not the greatest guy in the world, and I know I'm probably still far from father material but the way I see it, neither of us were expecting this to happen. We're both as lost as each other right now, and sometimes I don't think my brain can deal with everything that's happened in the past few weeks, but I'm not letting you go again. I might have missed all the important stuff in your life Grace, but I don't want to miss anything else."

Grace smiled at his words, squeezing his hand in return.

She had a father and he was right, they were both so lost and confused right now, but they were doing it together.

"Can I keep this one too?" she asked, picking up Tony's baby photo.

"Sure can," he grinned.

Grace gathered the two photos, letting Tony's hand go in order to put the images together and stand them on her bedside table. Every time she looked at them, she was in awe. After all these years, she had an answer to her biggest question.

Tony stood up from the bed and slid his hands into his pocket, looking around at the other two boxes in the room.

"I'll let you settle in the rest of-"

His words went silent as he felt a body slam into his own, arms stretched around his back. Grace could no longer hold back her urge to hug the man, and Tony's mind was racing. For the first time in his life, he had his daughter in his arms. He pulled her close, hugging her tight and letting his eyes fall closed as he savoured the moment. Neither of them said a word as their hug went on and on.

For the first time since Grace was three years old, she had a parent. A real, biological parent. A parent who wanted her.

It was the next morning when Grace finally met Rhodey. Tony had told him about his best friend a few times in their conversations, explaining how he would be lost without the man but insisting that Grace never actually tell him that. Pepper had rolled her eyes at all of the stories Tony told involving Rhodey and their mischief, making Grace laugh at just the thought.

Grace had just finished up showering when she made her way downstairs for breakfast, dressed in black sweatpants and a blue t-shirt. Tony grinned when he saw her making her way down the stairs, noticing how comfortable and familiar she was becoming here. She hadn't seen the two men in the living room yet, yawning slightly as she stretched her arms and wandered into the kitchen.

"Morning sweetie," Pepper called from behind the kitchen bench, pouring her second cup of coffee. "Hope you're hungry,"

In front of the woman were several plates full of bacon, eggs, hash browns and toast. Grace took a moment to look between all of the food and Pepper, wondering why they had so much, before she heard two voices approaching from the living room.

"I'm just saying I could give you a run for your money," the man insisted, shaking his head.

"Oh please," Tony scoffed, looking up. "Hey Grace, you've got a big fan right here,"

With a mouthful of toast, Grace looked to the man by Tony's side. He was staring at her in surprise, his eyes wide and a small smile pulling at his lips as Grace hurriedly chewed the food in her mouth and swallowed.

"It's good to meet you Grace," he greeted. "I'm Rhodey, I'm sure Tony's told you all lies,"

Grace chuckled, looking to her father's mock offended expression.

"I would never," he assured.

"Nice to meet you too," Grace looked back at Rhodey.

"Maybe one day I can fill you in on the stories that actually happened," Rhodey laughed. "There's a few life lessons in there that your dad learnt the hard way."

Grace chuckled lightly, looking back to Tony who just watched them in return. It was the first time someone had referred to Tony as 'your dad' and apparently Tony had noticed that too, eyeing Grace carefully. The whole title of 'dad' and 'father' was going to take a long time to get used to if at all, but for now, Tony was just fine.

"Grace is a lot smarter than I was," Tony insisted.

"I don't think you've seen my grades," Grace warned, letting out a laugh.

"Intelligence is measured in more ways than grades," the man assured. "You should have seen mine at your age."

"You went to MIT," Grace argued.

"I was good at physics and engineering, sure. But everything else? A mess. Everyone has something they're good at, mine just happened to be something I actually enjoyed," he shrugged.

Grace nodded in return, thinking about her grades from her last report card. They were less than impressive. The only class she managed to excel in was math, and that wasn't really something she could rely on for a career. At least, that's what she had been told. She needed to focus more in class, she needed to work on her attendance, she needed to pay attention. But before all of that, she needed a stable life, and Grace had never had that before.

But that was all going to change. Tony promised.

"Speaking of grades," Pepper began. "We're going to be looking at some potential schools today,"

"And it's gonna be your call Grace, okay?" Tony assured. "If you don't like somewhere, it's off the list, no questions. I want you to be comfortable with wherever you go."

"It's school," the teenager shrugged. "It's gonna be the same wherever I go,"

"You'll have enough to adjust to, we just want you to have a say in all these things," Pepper assured.

Grace smiled, nodding.

"Okay,"

A moment later, Rhodey came over to take a seat by Grace and began to munch on some of the food set out for breakfast. Pepper walked over a moment later, pouring a glass of juice for them both and watching closely as Tony emptied the coffee jug, going for his second cup of the morning also.

There was a moment of silence among them as Tony and Pepper stared at once another, glancing at the now-empty jug.

"You have to refill it," Pepper warned.

"But..." Tony began, looking at his cup. "My coffee will go cold,"

"It takes two seconds,"

"You make it so much better,"

"Tony, it's just pouring the coffee into the filt-"

"But you do it with love," he insisted, a grin on his lips. "It tastes better."

Pepper glared back at him.

"It won't be tasting like love today man," Rhodey laughed, looking to Grace. "Coffee is a, uh, sensitive issue around here."

Laughing, Grace looked back at the two adults having a stare down over the coffee jug.

"You see, Tony never refills it but he always takes the last for himself, then when Pepper wants some it's all gone and she makes it again, and Tony pops up and empties it again," Rhodey explained, watching as Pepper rolled her eyes and took the jug. "You can see who the adult is in this relationship, can't you?"

"Loud and clear," Grace chuckled.

Rhodey laughed along with her, picking up another piece of bacon to take a bite. Tony looked over at them, taking a sip of his coffee as he glanced between the two.

"Stop corrupting my kid,"


	7. Chapter 7

Tony looked down at the official papers in front of him, his eyes glued to some very specific words. Full custody of Grace Emilia Greene to the father Anthony Edward Stark. He could feel his heart racing as he read the words over and over again, convincing himself that this was real. Tony Stark had a daughter, and his daughter finally had a father.

Grace was sitting beside him as the last of the papers were signed, watching as he scribbled his name across each line. A signature that people waited in line for, that people begged for when seeing him at an event or out in public and that Tony would give without even looking at what he was writing on. But Tony had paid great attention to his signature this time. It was the most important one he had ever made.

"Alright, these will be filed and sent to the appropriate people, but otherwise, congratulations," the lawyer smiled. "You've got a daughter."

Tony's lips twitched up into a grin at the official title, turning to Grace who had the same pleased smile on her face. He reached his hand out to her, immediately feeling his heart skip when Grace grabbed it and wrapped her fingers around his.

After all these years of dreaming, Grace had a family, and Tony was going to do everything humanly possible to keep that family safe.

Pepper had been waiting outside the lawyer's office, tapping away on her phone and returning as many emails as possible before the rest of their day began. Tony had wanted her to come in with them, to be there for that moment, but Pepper insisted it be between him and Grace. It wasn't that Pepper was any less a part of this new family, but she knew this had to be for Grace and Tony.

She had watched the man she loved change so much in the past few weeks, in all the best ways, and she was so proud of where they were now. Pepper couldn't help thinking back to Tony's younger years when the idea of an unexpected child would induce panic and chaos, comparing it to right now.

"You have school arranged, I assume?" the lawyer, Joe, had asked a week ago.

"Yes, it's all sorted," Pepper assured.

"I've got tutors lined up for whatever she needs," Tony added. "Textbooks, that whole school checklist, it's all done."

Joe smiled at the man.

"Sounds like you're all set then. Do you have any concerns? Any questions?" he wondered.

"Uh, no," Tony shrugged, shaking his head. "Not really. She's a good kid."

"And a teenager," Joe added. "They're unpredictable. My daughter was a handful at Grace's age, and especially at sixteen."

"Trying to scare me off?" Tony asked, a smirk on his lips.

Joe had been his lawyer for years now and was in charge of the majority of Stark Industries legal teams. There was no one else Tony would have trusted to go through this process with, and it was clear now that they were talking as friends rather than attorney and client.

"Being a father is more rewarding than anything I've ever done in my life," Joe assured. "I'd give up everything I own and everything I am for my kids, so I'm not trying to scare you off. It's going to change your life completely, and that's not a bad thing."

"Any tips?" Tony asked, feeling his nerves appear.

"Keep an open mind," Joe advised. "Just keep in mind what you were like at her age."

Tony chuckled lightly, shaking his head.

"And if my fifteen year old self was a bratty asshole?"

Joe laughed, shrugging his shoulders and leaning back in his chair.

"Try to deal with it in the way you would have liked your own parents to deal with you," he continued. "And keep in mind, when you're a teenager, everything is a big deal. And for Grace, this is all new territory. She's been in so many homes with different parenting techniques and different rules, so she's going to be just as confused as you are."

Pepper looked over to Tony with a small smile, reaching over to rest her hand against his leg. A moment later, she felt Tony's hand cover her own. He was scared of being a father, but not for the reasons he used to be. Grace could throw anything at him that she wanted to, Tony would be there to deal with it. Above all, he wanted to be a good father.

The office doors opened a few minutes later and Pepper looked up to see Tony walking out with his arm slung around Grace's shoulders, mid-laugh. They looked so happy and so at ease. A few weeks ago, neither of them thought they would ever have this, and here they were. Officially father and daughter.

Although the addition of 'Stark' to Grace's name had never been discussed, and for now they were happy to leave that matter alone. Tony didn't need her to have his surname to feel like her father, and he would never ask Grace to lose her mother's name.

"Everything went well?" Pepper asked, standing up and stepping into Tony's arms.

"It's all done," Tony grinned, pressing a kiss to her lips before pressing another to her forehead. "All official."

"No longer an orphan," Grace sighed with a smile, standing by their side.

It only took a moment for grateful tears to well up in her eyes, and no matter how hard Grace tried to hold them back, they spilled over and rolled down her cheeks. Bringing her hands up to cover her face, Grace desperately tried to compose herself before she felt Tony's arms wrapping around her.

Never in her life did she think it would be possible to be in her father's arms, to be comforted by her dad and feel protected by his embrace.

Grace had no idea how heavily this would hit her. It was just a few words on paper, and yet it meant everything.

"Thank you," she whispered to him, hugging him back with all her strength.

"No," Tony shook his head. "Don't thank me, you don't owe me anything."

"I had no one,"

Tony could feel his heart aching in his chest.

"Well you're always gonna have me," he promised, squeezing her tight. "Always."

* * *

Grace walked through the main corridor in the mansion, watching her friend's face very closely. She wondered if Lewis was making the same expressions she made when coming here for the first time. Wide eyes, mouth hanging open, unable to process how much one single tile must have cost. Everything was shiny, everything was new. It was overwhelming for anyone, but coming from their background, there were just no words.

"You...you live in this?" Lewis asked, reaching out to run his hand over a marble ornament.

"I know it looks fancy," Grace nodded. "But it's really homey. You should see my room, I have all those books you gave me stacked up-"

"Lewis!" Tony's voice came into the room. "It is Lewis, right?"

The boy just stared back at the man, his mouth once again hanging open in awe.

"Y-yes Mr. Stark," Lewis stuttered.

"Just Tony," he insisted, extending his hand to shake. "It's nice to meet you, Grace talks about you all the time, now I can put a face to the name."

Of course Tony had already put a face to the name days ago when Grace first mentioned inviting her friend over. She was so nervous to ask Tony that she took all afternoon to actually bring it up over dinner, and Tony couldn't help grinning at his daughter's excitement as she explained how she had grown up with Lewis and never wanted to miss spending time with him. Tony wanted nothing more than to keep Grace comfortable and involve as much of her life in this transition, but that didn't stop his curiosity getting the better of him.

"Y-yeah, nice to meet you too," the boy smiled. "It's been really weird around home with Grace gone. A lot more peaceful."

"Hey!" Grace scolded, pushing him off is balance with a shove.

"I'm kidding," Lewis laughed, standing up straight. "I really miss you. It's gonna take a while to get used to."

Tony looked between the two with a grin. He was glad Grace had a friend like Lewis in her life, especially during this big change. Grace was getting more and more comfortable here as the days went on, but he knew she would need someone to talk to who wasn't her father or Pepper. She needed friends, she needed to be a kid, and Lewis was good for her.

"Well you're welcome here anytime," Tony told him. "I know Pasadena is an hour away, but don't worry about bus fares or cabs, okay? I'll take care of it."

"Oh, no you don't hav-"

"It's done," Tony insisted, holding his hand up. "Now, go be kids."

"We're fifteen," Grace shook her head.

"Okay, well go be fifteen year olds," he corrected. "Just, you know, sensible ones. And maybe don't go out too far without me or Pepper or Happy with you, okay? If you want to go to a movie or something just let me know. And if you're going to go swimming or anything just make sure you tell me that's where you're-"

"I promise I'll tell you if we're going anywhere," Grace assured, letting out a small laugh. "We're probably just going to stay in my room and hang out."

"Okay," Tony nodded, a small wave of relief rushing over him. "I'll leave you alone, I won't be the annoying parent, going now."

Grace smiled over at Lewis as he watched Tony turning his back and slowly stepping away. She was glad that Lewis was finally seeing the real Tony Stark, her father, rather than the man the media loved to provoke. These were the two most important people in her life, and she really wanted them to get along.

Tony wandered back into the living room, spotting Pepper sitting along the couch and deciding to sprawl out by her side.

"Should I have done the whole 'keep the door open' speech?" Tony asked, resting his head on Pepper's shoulder.

"They're just friends Tony," Pepper explained.

"I know," he sighed. "But you know...he's a boy, and they're fifteen, and I know what fifteen year old boys-"

"Not all fifteen year old boys are going to be like you," Pe

Pepper joked, reaching out to run her hand over his.

"I just hope she isn't going to be like me,"

"What are you worried about?" she asked, moving to make Tony look at her. "Is this about what Joe said?"

"Joe didn't say anything that I hadn't thought about already," he admit. "I just want to do right by her, you know? I don't...the way I was when I was her age, it was because my parents weren't around. My dad made no effort to be part of my life and my mom was just blind to it all. They were never home, always travelling, and they had no idea what was going on with me. They only started paying attention when I got in trouble and it started to hurt their reputation. I don't want Grace to ever think that she has to do anything like that just to make me pay attention to her."

Pepper cupped Tony's face in her hands, pressing a kiss to his forehead and running her fingers through his hair.

"You are not Howard," she told him firmly. "In just over a month, you have shown her more love than you even realize. You are her father, Tony. You saw how happy she was that day. She has a family now, and you are doing everything right by her."

"I might not be Howard, but I am Iron Man," Tony continued. "What if I'm away too long? What if I take on something that's out of my league?"

"You always do that anyway, and it's worked out so far," Pepper smiled. "Not that I'm encouraging it."

"Every time I go out there in the suit, it's always been you on my mind," he told her sincerely. "I have to make sure I get back to you and make sure you're safe. And now I have Grace. If something happens to me...I can't do that to her. I can't do that to either of you."

"Tony," Pepper sighed, still running her hands through his hair. "You're scaring yourself. You can't think like that, you're going to drive yourself crazy."

"I just want to be a good father," he sighed.

"You are being a good father," she insisted. "Thinking about all of this just proves that. You care, Tony. More than I've ever seen you care before."

"I can screw up being CEO of the company, I can even screw up being Iron Man, but I can't screw up being her father. That just can't be an option."

* * *

Lewis walked around Grace's room, peeking out the windows at her incredible view of the beach and the city in the distance. This was a house they used to picture when explaining their fairytale lives to one another, pretending they had a real family out there just waiting for them in a mansion with everything they could ever want. Now Grace had that as her reality.

"This is like a holiday house," Lewis shook his head. "And you live here."

"I'm still getting used to it," Grace laughed, watching the awe on her friend's face.

Then Lewis turned his gaze to an outfit hanging by her wardrobe, and Grace prepared herself for the insults bound to come her way.

"What is that?" he asked, his voice riddled with disgust.

Grace let out a long groan, folding her arms.

"It's my school uniform," she explained. "What's wrong with navy?"

"What's wrong with navy? Forget the colour, you look like you're enlisting for the actual Navy in this thing! It has collars, and ties!"

"Hey, it's actually one of the nicer uniforms for private schools, okay?" she defended, standing up to shove the outfit inside the wardrobe and pull the door closed.

Lewis stared back at her then.

"A private school?"

Grace rolled her eyes, letting herself fall back onto the bed.

"They're not so bad,"

"Private school? When have we ever met someone from a private school who wasn't a total dick?"

"They have better support for me," Grace defended. "And better security."

"Security?"

"Yeah, security," she repeated, throwing her hands up in frustration. "The whole world knows about me now."

Lewis ran his hand through his hair, shaking his head in disbelief. He knew the life Grace had now and what she was going to be living in, but the reality of the situation seemed to be hitting him just now. Tony Stark was a high profile person, and now Grace was too. Everyone wanted to know more about her, wanted pictures of her, wanted anything they could get their hands on.

"Was the private school Tony's idea?" he asked cautiously. "I mean, wanting that security for you? He's Iron Man after all, he could get the press to stop chasing you down somehow."

"He doesn't want Iron Man to be my dad though," she shrugged. "And neither do I. None of this has been easy, you know? I want keep some parts of my life normal, and if that means going to a private school to make sure my life stays private, then it's really not a hard choice. Tony just...he wants me to be okay."

Lewis smiled, moving to sit beside her on the bed.

"That's good," he nodded, reaching over to put a hand on Grace's shoulder. "Honestly, he's nothing like what I thought. He's so much more...lame, you know?"

Grace laughed, finally breaking away from her nerves and frustration.

"Lame?"

"Yeah, you know, like a dorky dad," Lewis explained, chuckling. "I mean, your dad is Iron Man, and he's still just like every other guy with a kid. He's so normal."

Grace smiled at that, leaning over to grab Lewis up in a hug. Normal was just what she wanted. A lame, dorky dad was something she had dreamed about for so long, and although Tony was far from the average father, she was glad that Lewis could see what she did.

"Promise you'll visit?" he asked, hugging her in return.

"Of course I will," she assured. "And you too?"

"Well Tony just offered to pay for cab, so I guess I'll be visiting more often. But I'm starving, what has your guest gotta do to get a snack?"


	8. Chapter 8

Grace stared out the window in awe, looking at all the buildings and towers that surrounded her and the streets that held endless cars and pedestrians below. The glowing lights of billboards flashed all around her and she could hear the constant screeching of tyres and blasting of horns. It was nothing like she had ever experienced before.

Tony stood by her side, his eyes flickering between the view outside and the sight of his daughter so consumed by this moment. The day earlier, Grace had been trying on her school uniform and stressing over beginning a new school two days from now, and here she was standing on the top floor of the newly constructed Stark Tower in New York City.

"Is that Times Square?" Grace gasped, her voice barely a whisper.

Tony gave a nod, following her line of sight to the bustling centre of the city.

"You should see the view of that at night,"

"I can't believe you own this," she shook her head, still staring. "You own this. This place must be one of the tallest buildings in the city, right?"

"It's up there," he shrugged.

"And you guys built this. Right here. I mean, you can see everything up here! Look! That's like all of Central Park!"

Tony grinned, enjoying how excited she seemed to be. In all of the visits Tony had made to the tower during its development, he had never had the feeling that he did right now. The same went for every visit he had ever made to New York. Nothing compared to visiting with Grace.

There had been fifteen years of 'firsts' that Tony had missed out on in Grace's life, but he was learning that there were still plenty of those left. The first time she stepped onto a private jet, the first time she saw the Statue of Liberty and crossed the Manhattan Bridge with wide, overwhelmed eyes.

"It's a lot to take in, isn't it?" Pepper smiled from behind them, finally walking over to join in.

They were here on business, really. Making sure the zoning and construction approvals were being moved along as quickly as possible. Pepper could make miracles happen, and the tower had been built quicker and more efficiently than anything they had worked on before.

It was their biggest project together. It was their baby. Grace could see how proud they both were whenever they spoke about it, explaining the whole clean-energy concept to Grace during their journey here. Neither of them could wait to share this with her, and once Grace had set her eyes on the huge building, she seemed to be reminded of just how extraordinary her father and Pepper really were.

"I can't believe this is your view," Grace shook her head, a look of awe taking over her face once again.

"It's yours too," Pepper reminded, putting a soft hand on Grace's back. "This place is just as much yours as it is ours sweetie."

Grace gave Pepper a grateful smile, still so overwhelmed that this was her life now. Tony reached over behind Grace and let his arm settled around Pepper's waist, realizing that everything he held dear to him was wrapped in his arms now. With Grace standing in the middle, Tony took a moment to appreciate his family.

They all stood in silence for a few minutes as Grace looked around once more, thoroughly entertained by every part of the city she could see. It was like she had stepped into a movie.

"So, did you pick out where we're having dinner?" Tony asked, breaking their silence.

Grace turned to her father, biting down on her lip.

"I don't know," she whined. "You gave me too many options."

"Well, what do you feel like? Italian, Japanese, French, anything? I know a good place for every type of food," he encouraged.

"Well, I've never had French and all I can think about is snails," Grace laughed. "I don't know. I'm not a uh, I'm not much of a 'fancy' diner."

Pepper gave a light, reassuring smile before looking back to Tony.

"Oh, don't worry. As soon as Tony has pasta or anything with sauce in front of him, he's the furthest thing from a 'fancy' diner, trust me," she chuckled.

"Making a mess of your meal just means you're enjoying it," Tony shrugged, defending. "Excuse me for living authentically."

"Oh, please."

"Is this because I dropped that plate of lasagne on myself last time we went-"

"No, move past the lasagne incident, okay?" Pepper rolled her eyes, laughing at the memory. "Grace, we don't have to go out for dinner. There's a million restaurants to choose from, we can order in if you'd like."

Grace thought for a few moments, looking between the two. Tony and Pepper would be more than happy to order in pasta or pizza or whatever cuisine Grace would like and eat in their hotel room, and Grace knew that. But they hadn't actually been out for a family meal yet.

The whole idea of dining out with a restaurant full of people who would be staring scared Grace. It was going to be utterly intimidating. But when she really thought about it, that's all she wanted to do. She had never had a family to go out to dinner with or even sit at a kitchen table with, and here she was whining about the fact she didn't want to be seen eating with them.

"No, I want to go for dinner," she gave a nod, folding her arms. "Why don't we go to that Italian place you guys were talking about?"

"Oh my god, you're going to love the garlic bread," Tony assured excitedly. "But we don't have to go out, okay? I don't want you to do anything you don't-"

"I want to," she nodded. "It'll be nice,"

Tony smiled at her, nodding along as well, as he looked up to Pepper.

"I'll make the reservation,"

The whole time Grace was exiting the car, she could feel Tony's arm wrapped tightly around her. She had her jacket pulled up over her head as Happy lead them into the back of the restaurant, pushing his way through the swarm of reporters and photographers to get the family of three inside.

Tony had his jaw set firmly as he ignored question after question from the press, hating the way they threw around his daughter's name and asked about her mother. They were vultures. Cruel, evil vultures with no empathy or decency.

"Back off," Happy called out as he pushed the crowd out of his way. "Hey, you know the law on minors, alright? Back off!"

Pepper clung close to the other side of Grace, arm going out to wrap around her side as well, just below Tony's. Reporters were shouting all around them, taunting Grace with questions about her past foster families and what she thought about Tony ignoring her mother's existence. They were looking for an outburst from Tony, one that Tony was desperately trying to hold back.

"Little further," Pepper whispered to Grace, assuring her this was almost over. "There we go."

Grace pulled her jacket down from her face when the doors were closed, safely blocking them from the craze outside. She could see the cameras flashing wildly, her eyes blinking wildly as she turned back away and rubbed at them tiredly.

"I'm sorry," Tony apologized, letting out a heavy sigh as he glared back at the crowd.

"It's okay," Grace shook her head, fixing her jacket. "It's not your fault,"

"Well, it kind of is," he shrugged, wrapping his arm around her again. "Come on, our table is in a private corner."

Letting out a huff of exhaustion, Grace followed along behind Tony toward their table, listening to Pepper's heels trailing behind her. Being hounded by the press was nothing Grace hadn't been expecting, but experiencing it so intensely like that had shaken her more than she thought.

Tony watched her carefully as they took their seats, noticing how quiet she seemed. Pepper looked to him worriedly, reaching over to place a hand on her shoulder.

"Sweetie? You okay?" she asked softly.

"Hmm?" Grace blinked, looking to the woman. "Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry, they were just…loud."

"We'll get our people onto it," Pepper assured. "They can't come after you like that, and we've got restraining orders in place that they were pushing against very closely just now."

"Could have been worse," Grace sighed, shaking her head.

"I'm going to make sure it never does get worse," Tony assured. "I'm sorry you have to deal with all of this just because of me."

"It's worth it to actually have a dad," Grace defended without a second thought.

Tony's heart warmed at her words, and Grace just smiled back at him as he looked between her and Pepper. He really hadn't been happier before in his life.

It didn't take long for Grace to forget all about the mess outside the restaurant or the peering eyes of other diners, instead focusing on the playful bickering going on between Pepper and Tony. It seemed they had a story about everything, and unlike most children when listening to parents go on about old memories, Grace couldn't wait to hear more.

These were stories about the real Tony Stark, not the man the media made him out to be, recounted by the woman who truly loved him.

"Wait, you set fire to the workshop downstairs?" Grace laughed, almost spitting her water over the table.

"More than once," Pepper added. "And not just the workshop."

"Hey, I'm making world-first tech in that workshop," Tony defended.

"You're also remodelling every month because you break everything," Pepper continued with a chuckle, sipping her wine.

Grace continued to laugh at their stories, not even noticing when the waiters delivered their meals. But once they started eating, she understood why this was one of their favourite restaurants. She may not have been familiar with fine dining or high quality Italian cuisine, but she knew this was good food. Probably the best she had ever had, and definitely the most expensive.

Tony watched as Grace twirled the pasta around her fork, taking another mouthful with a delighted sigh. This time he was careful not to spill his own pasta on himself, mindful that he would never live it down a second time.

"So how are you feeling about school?" Pepper asked as they ate, looking over to Grace. "Is there anything else you need?"

"No, I think I'm set," Grace gave a nod, swallowing. "My uniform fits, shoes fit, I've got my textbooks and my bag…I think that's it."

Tony watched her as he ate, taking in the way her smile seemed to fade at just the thought of school. Starting a new school was rough enough, but Tony hated that it was because of him that this school had to be so daunting. But it was the best option for her.

Now the world knew about her, they would do anything to get to her. Not only the media, but every one of Tony's enemies too. A private school with real security and protection was their safest bet.

"Hey," Tony sighed, grabbing her attention. "I know it's scary, and if you want more time-"

"No, I have to go," Grace shook her head. "If I don't go on Monday, it won't change the fact I have to go one day."

"It's fifteen minutes from home, okay? If anything happens or you don't feel comfortable or anything at all, you can call either of us and we'll be there," Pepper assured.

Grace gave them both a grateful smile.

"I know," she nodded. "But I'm a big girl, and I have to go and put up with whatever shit they're going to throw at me."

"Is that what you're worried about? The kids?" Pepper asked.

"No," Grace shook her head, continuing to push her pasta around. "Well, yeah. I mean, that's a big part of it I guess. But…it's just that…I'm not…"

Both Tony and Pepper waited patiently for Grace to find the words, refraining from encouragement and choosing not to push her. They knew Grace had many insecurities about herself, especially coming from the life she had, and it seemed that this situation happened to be bringing them all out again.

"They all know where I come from," Grace sighed, unable to really explain herself. "I didn't grow up in a Malibu neighbourhood going to brunch and having slumber parties in mansions."

"Grace, that's not-"

"I know it doesn't matter, but it's going to matter. At least, to them it will," she huffed. "I know I sound stupid complaining about it-"

"No, you don't," Tony cut in. "High school is bullshit. I know that, we all know that. But me and Pepper are here for you, okay? For anything you need. I know you want to face this on your own and I get that, but we're here for you, alright?"

Grace gave a nod of understanding.

"I know,"

"And those kids don't know anything about you," Tony added. "And if they believe a word of what they've read in those trash articles, then you don't need them anyway. One good thing that's going to come out of dealing with being…well, known in the public eye is that it gets very easy to know who your real friends are."

"I've only really got one friend anyway," Grace shrugged, letting out a soft chuckle. "And I'm pretty happy to keep it that way."

"You never know what sort of people you'll meet at school," Pepper encouraged. "They could be completely different to what you're expecting."

Grace nodded, sure that Pepper was wrong but appreciating the comfort anyway.

"Yeah, they could be."

* * *

Grace laid her feet out in front of her on the leather seat, staring out the window at the clouds that floated by as they made their way home to Malibu. Pepper was reading a magazine off to the side, Tony sitting across from her staring over at Grace with slight disgust.

The teenager had a bag of candy in her lap filled with an assortment of sour, brightly coloured treats that made her mouth turn blue and red and eventually dark purple. It looked like she was eating pure sugar, which wasn't far from the truth, and Tony really didn't know how she was doing it. All it took was one piece of a red, sugar-coated gummy was all it took for Tony to pull a face and spit it back out.

"How are you still eating those?" he asked, shaking his head with a frown. "Do you have any tastebuds left?"

Grace shrugged, looking over to him while chewing on a sour gummy snake.

"It's not that sour," she explained. "Want to try another?"

"I might actually throw up," Tony shook his head, chucking.

They continued on in silence as they flew further from the city, settling in to their journey and mentally preparing for reality again. Soon enough, Grace would be back at home staring at her school uniform, dreading her first day. But for now, the candy overload served as a wonderful distraction.

A few hours into their flight, Pepper turned on the television mounted on the wall, grabbing her phone and preparing to email the P.R team. Their visit to New York was going to be on every news channel without a doubt, considering it was one of Tony's first actual outings with his daughter, and Pepper was going to make sure those reporters were held accountable for their harassment.

However among the snippets of Grace being shielded into the restaurant was another story, one that shouldn't have surprised any of them. Another foster parent had been hounded for an interview, except this time he didn't want to talk.

They all watched on as footage continued, cutting from an image of Grace as a child to this man struggling to outrun the media.

"I've already said I won't be commenting on this," the man shook his head, walking to his car while being chased down by a crowd of reporters.

"Jonathon Hames, along with his wife Teresa, were the legal guardians of Tony Stark's daughter for one year when she was just eight years old. Moving between foster homes became rather normal for Grace, but what was unusual in this instance is the lack of information that has been allowed about Grace's time in the Hames family. All government documents have been sealed and hidden away, leaving questions the Department of Health and Human Services cannot and are unwilling to answer."

Grace could feel her heart racing faster with each word from the reporter, knowing that all eyes in the jet right now were on her. But none were wider than Tony's.

He had already performed a check on all the families he knew about months ago, wanting to know more about Grace's childhood and hopefully gain some insight into the child she was. That's where his inventory of her school photos had come from, watching her grow right before his eyes.

But the Hames family were never mentioned, they never popped up in the search, and even without knowing what had happened, Tony felt like he had failed his daughter.

The footage of Jonathon Hames soon faded off into another story, moving right past the mysterious past of Grace Greene once again. The American people would be sick of hearing her name each time a news bulletin began, and she couldn't blame them.

"Why are they asking the department about him?" Grace asked, breaking the silence. "Why are they asking them about any of my old families? Isn't…isn't that illegal?"

Pepper looked between Grace and Tony, worry filling her gaze.

"The department can't give personal information to the media," she explained. "But it only takes a few photocopied documents and enough of payoff to get what they want,"

Grace looked over to Tony, watching his eyes scan over her before dropping to the floor in front of them. His mind was ticking, going wild, and Grace worried that any moment now he was going to snap.

"These are really messing with me," she shook her head, setting down the bag of candy and pushing herself up from the seat. "I'm going to lie down for a minute, if that's okay."

"Of course," Pepper nodded, a gentle smile on her lips.

Tony remained silent as she left, listening to the faint clicking of the cabin door as Grace hid herself away. There were too many things running through his head to respond to her, and it felt like hours later when he finally did speak.

"Reporters aren't totally stupid, they know how to hack Government records," Tony began, his voice barely a whisper toward Pepper. "The only reason documents would be sealed properly is if they contained a criminal charge."

"Criminal charges are public records," Pepper shook her head, turning to him.

"Not if they involve minors."

* * *

No one spoke a word about Jonathon Hames during the rest of their journey. Pepper had suggested they all stop for some take-out on their way home from the jet, but once they had some burgers in their laps, no one felt particularly hungry.

Tony was stuck on Hames and what had happened, and he had Jarvis doing a deep background check on the man before they even arrived back home. He needed to know why those records were sealed, he needed to know what Grace had been involved in. It was eating away at him, but so was the look Grace had on her face.

She was scared. Every time Tony caught her staring at him, he could see her chest rising and falling at an alarming rate. She was panicking, and that only made him worry further.

"I should go shower, I've got a lot to do tomorrow," Grace began, yawning as they walked into the living room. "Only one more day of freedom left, after all."

"You should eat something before you go to bed," Pepper encouraged. "All that candy doesn't count. Even a grilled cheese, okay?"

Grace smiled over at her.

"Okay," she agreed.

"Wait," Tony chimed in, finally making his way into the room. "We…Grace, we've gotta talk,"

Panic began to set in again, and the teen could feel her body shaking.

"O-okay,"

"You're not in trouble," he assured, shaking his head. "I'm not mad, okay? You haven't done anything. I'm just…I've got a lot of questions, and I can easily get Jarvis to find answers, but I don't want to get them like that. Whatever…whatever happened with Jonathon Hames…you can talk to me, to both of us, okay?"

Grace looked between them both, watching their worried expressions grow as she took her time to speak.

"I know," she gave a nod. "And it's really not as bad as you think, I just haven't had to think about it since…well, I was a kid."

"If you need time before you can talk to us, take as much as you need," Tony advised.

"No, I don't need time," she shook her head. "I just don't want you to get mad…and I think you'll get mad."

Tony took a deep breath, pushing away all of the scenarios in his head.

"Did he hurt you?" Tony asked gravely, unable to let himself even picture that outcome.

Grace bit her lip, glancing down at the ground for a moment before her eyes flickered from Tony to Pepper and back again, nervously.

"He didn't…he didn't mean to," she explained, shaking her head.

Tony could feel his stomach twisting in knots, and he could see Pepper raise a hand to cover her gasp of shock.

"He didn't mean to?" Tony questioned.

"It was an accident," Grace assured. "Teresa worked on Wednesday afternoons and Jon always took me to the park after school those days, but he'd been drinking all day and when we got home I kept asking and asking and asking to go to the park, and I just got on his nerves and h-he just snapped and pushed me into the wall,"

Tony watched as Grace began breathing faster, her voice becoming rapid and panicked as she recounted that day.

"I hurt my shoulder and started crying and h-he freaked out and pulled me by my arm and I fell over the railing and down the stairs. I broke my elbow and fractured my wrist, b-but it was…it wasn't like he meant to hurt me. He kept saying it was an accident and he didn't mean to, and I kept asking him about the park-"

"Hey, what he did was not your fault," Pepper assured. "You were eight years old, a child, and he is an adult. There's no reason to ever put a hand on a child."

Grace turned her attention from Pepper to Tony, who was staring back at her with a firm jaw and glaring eyes. When he met her gaze, he did his best to look away and contain himself, but his whole body was filling with adrenaline.

All he could picture was eight year old Grace. The little girl in the photos he had, dressed in her school uniform with piggy tails and an infectious smile. In the care of a family who were meant to take care of her, to keep her safe and make her feel loved and comforted and instead laying at the bottom of a staircase with broken bones.

If Grace's sad eyes weren't there staring back at him, he might have stormed off to get in the suit and track down Jonathon Hames himself.

"He was charged?" Tony asked, barely able to whisper out the question.

Grace nodded.

"The neighbours heard me crying and Jon was yelling, so…" she explained with a slight shrug. "They could smell he had been drinking, and Teresa just kept telling them that they had no idea how hard it was to raise me and that I drove him to pushing me. Look, I'm not saying they're Saints, I just…I know a lot of kids who had it a lot worse."

Tony shook his head, running his hand over his forehead.

"That doesn't-" he began, cutting himself off to calm down. "What he did wasn't an accident. He was supposed to be taking care of you. Being drunk doesn't just get him off the hook, it just makes it that much worse."

Grace watched him shake his head in anger, trying to compose himself.

"I…I didn't want to make you mad," she stuttered out.

That scared, sad voice brought Tony back to this reality. He was her father, her real father, and it was his job to keep her safe and protected and make sure she felt loved and cared for.

"I'm not mad," he assured, letting out a long sigh. "You haven't done anything to make me mad, I promise. I'm glad you told me."

"No, you're mad and this is stressing both of you out. I've just been causing problems since I got here," she shook her head, her eyes beginning to sting with the threat of welling tears.

Tony felt his heart beginning to race with panic, but all of his anger drained away with just the sound of Grace's uneasy voice. He could hear all of the guilt and shame in her voice, and he hated it. He hated that his reaction had made her feel like that.

"Sweetie, you haven't caused any problems," Pepper assured, her arm wrapping around Grace's shoulders.

"This is because of my life Grace, okay?" Tony explained. "These people look for anything to come back at me, and you're just getting caught up in all of it."

"You didn't have to deal with any of this mess before I-"

"This isn't mess, okay? Not to me. And even if it were, I would happily deal with this mess a hundred times over before thinking about my life before you. You're my daughter, Grace," Tony affirmed. "That's more important to me than my reputation and what the media thinks of me and my company and anything else in my life. The only reason I'm mad is because I can't stand the fact you were out there...dealing with all of that on your own...and I had no idea you even existed."

Grace looked at him sadly, her bottom lip shaking as she bit down on it.

"I just...I want to be easy, you know? I want to be an easy kid," she sighed. "I mean, I was eight years old and I annoyed a grown man into hurting me,"

"What he did was not your fault," Tony repeated.

And he was going to make sure Hames never had a chance to hurt her again, or anyone. He was going to make sure Grace never felt that kind of pain again.

"And trust me, you're a Stark," he continued, reaching out to put an arm around her. "We're not easy."

Grace smiled and fell into his arms, letting him hold her close and squeeze her tight against his chest. She had never felt so safe in someone's arms before, so loved, and she wondered if this was what every other kid felt like when they hugged their father.

And Tony's words rang in her ears. She was a Stark.


	9. Chapter 9

It was almost midnight when Pepper wrapped her robe around her body, sliding out of the bedroom and wandering down the hall, following the stairs, and ended up at the door of Tony's workshop. Through the glass walls, Pepper could see him staring intently one of many computer screens, scanning information about Jonathan Hames. Jarvis had been searching all evening for anything involving the man, and for all of Grace's records during that time.

Tony wanted to see medical files, bills, reports, charges, changes of custody, everything. He wanted to know every single detail of that situation, and it was heartbreaking to watch. Pepper knew the type of man Tony was, and after all these years watching him obsess over things and losing sleep to find answers, it had never hurt as much as right now.

"Tony," Pepper sighed, walking into the room. "Stop, you need to come to bed. It's almost midnight."

"Still got a few more files to get through," Tony mumbled, his voice half-awake, just like his red eyes.

"They can wait," she insisted, walking over to put her hands on his shoulders. "It'll all be there tomorrow, okay? You can't put yourself through this all night."

Tony sighed, hanging his head low and reaching up to wrap one of his hands around Pepper's hold on his shoulder. He knew she was right, he needed to go to bed. Tony had promised her long ago that this wouldn't become a habit again, that he was sleep like a regular person, that he wouldn't isolate himself down here obsessing over information that he desperately needed to read before getting any sort of rest. And it wasn't just her he was worrying anymore.

He needed to keep himself sane for Grace's sake, after all. This was what it was all about. She was what it was all about. Tony would never want her to see him when he fell into his dark, obsessive and tormented phases. He refused to go days without setting foot outside the workshop, without eating or sleeping. He had to be responsible, he had to be unlike all the others.

"He didn't do any time," Tony grumbled, shaking his head. "Got charged, took a deal, never did more than two weeks in prison."

"For criminal charges?"

"Loopholes," he explained, rubbing his eyes. "Good behaviour, clean record, he took every deal he could have."

Pepper sighed, continuing to run her hands over his shoulders. She knew how this would be affecting him, and she was at a loss for words. Pepper always knew how to talk Tony out of these moods, how to take his mind off the issue and make sure he ate and slept and functioned like a normal human. But he was a father now, and Pepper knew that this was important. This wasn't some government official he was doing a background check on, or calibrations on the gauntlets or redesigning their next building project. This was his daughter.

Tony continued staring at the image of Jonathan Hames on his screen, his breathing still heavy and angry.

"He just...he barely got a slap on the wrist," Tony muttered. "For breaking her bones. A kid. That's bullshit, Pepper. It's...that's just bullshit."

"I know, I know, honey," Pepper nodded, folding her arms around herself. "God, I feel sick every time I think about it."

"That's why he won't talk," Tony continued, shaking his head. "If the media finds out what he did, there's a chance it'll get reopened and he'll get time for it. There's court documents of all the deals he took, all the information they need to put him away and take down the case managers in charge of Grace's foster homes at the time."

Pepper thought about Tony's words, letting out a long sigh and closing her eyes as she realized the reality of their situation.

"The only way to get the case reopened is to get the documents out, but that..."

"Brings up all of Grace's past and drags her through a humiliating media trial," he groaned, rubbing his forehead. "I can't let this guy just keep living out there like he didn't do anything wrong."

"If you go near this-"

"I know," Tony sighed, leaning forward to put his head in his hands.

Every single approach Tony thought of ended with Grace being thrown into the spotlight even more than she was now, forcing her to relive memories he knew she would much rather forget. The last thing he wanted was to hurt her, and to be the one who caused her more pain and heartache.

"You need sleep," Pepper reminded, leaning down to wrap her arms around him and rest her chin on his shoulder.

"She's not sleeping," Tony sighed. "Jarvis, Grace still up?"

"She is, sir. However it is not without lack of trying."

"I shouldn't have pushed the issue," he shook his head.

"We all would have talked about this eventually," Pepper soothed.

"Yeah, not the day before she has to start a new school," he sighed, pushing his chair back to stand up. "Okay, bed."

"Bed," Pepper nodded, pressing a kiss to his lips.

Tony grumbled his agreement, squeezing her close for a moment.

"I'm gonna get up early and make her pancakes,"

* * *

Grace looked at herself in the mirror, straightening out the blazer she had just pulled over her shoulders, wondering if she was really standing here dressed in a navy blue and white school uniform. It was easily the most expensive outfit that she had ever worn, and she had never looked so put together in her life. There wasn't a single crease in her skirt or crisp white shirt, Pepper made sure of that. Uniform was something Haverson Private prided themselves in, and Grace really didn't need to screw up that one essential element on the first day.

Her hair was brushed out over her shoulders, looking smooth and silky from an early morning shower. She had been awake since 5am, and it embarrassed her how much time she had spent since then obsessing over her appearance. The last thing she needed was to look like the person they all thought she was. To look homeless, unwanted, like a freak.

"Grace? How's it going in there?" Tony called from the door, tapping against it softly.

With a deep breath, Grace took one last look at herself before turning toward her door. Tony had been waiting nervously on the other side, unconsciously fiddling with his fingers to the point of pulling his nails. When the door finally opened, he was almost lost for words.

Grace looked so grown up and so young all at once, nervous and excited, the exact picture of a teenager ready for their first day.

"Do I have to wear the blazer?" Grace asked, shrugging her shoulders uncomfortably.

Tony continued staring at her, his lips pulling up into a smile.

"Cute as a button," he grinned, teasing.

"Stop," Grace groaned. "Why didn't you ever have to wear a stupid uniform?"

"I did," Tony explained. "I just never wore it the way they wanted me to."

"You broke uniform code?" Grace gasped dramatically.

"But you never have to break uniform code, because you look perfect," he assured. "Want some more pancakes for the road?"

Grace shook her head, following Tony down the hall, bag slung over her shoulder.

"Pepper might actually kill me if I get any food on this," she laughed.

"That's a possibility," Pepper responded from the bottom of the stairs. "You all ready to go?"

Grace gave an uneasy nod, taking a deep breath. Tony insisted on driving Grace to school himself instead of Happy escorting them all, trying to provide a sense of normality. But there was nothing normal about this, and they all knew that.

But Grace was going to face this head on, as bravely as she could. She finally had her family, her father, and a life that she had always wanted. She owed it to herself to give this all she had, to go in optimistic, as terrified as she was.

When the doors to Tony's Audi closed, it left he and Grace sitting in silence for a moment.

"I didn't get a photo," he sighed, his voice full of realisation.

"Of what?"

"Of you," he turned to her. "It's your first day of school. I didn't get a photo with you. That's...that's what parents do when their kid starts school,"

"This isn't my first time at school," she shook her head.

"But it's your first..." Tony trailed off, his voice softening as he let out a sigh.

Grace realized what he was upset about then. This wasn't her first day of school, but it was her first day as Tony's daughter. This was his first day of his child starting school. The first real thing he could experience with her.

"We'll get a photo this afternoon," she assured, giving him a smile. "I'll make sure I keep my blazer on."

Tony grinned in return.

"You really do look beautiful," he assured.

Grace looked down shyly, fiddling with her hands.

"If only mom could see me like this," she shook her head. "I doubt she ever thought of me going to a private school,"

Tony reached over to wrap his arm around her, tilting her gently to lean in and press a kiss to her forehead.

"She'd be so proud of you," he told her firmly. "Just like I am,"

Grace smiled, letting out a small chuckle.

"I haven't done anything yet,"

"You've done plenty kiddo," he shook his head. "I know it's been rough, and it hasn't gone the way we wanted and it's probably never going to be easy being my daughter, but-"

"It's not as hard as you think," she told him, looking over. "I can deal with all of that if it means that I get a dad. And I can even deal with the uniform."

Tony laughed, his heart bursting with love for his daughter. The daughter he had known about for such a short amount of time, and yet would lay down everything he owned and everything he was for.

"Alright, let's get you to school," he announced, starting up the car. "I'll give you some tips if anyone gives you trouble."

"I've been in government schools my whole life, I know all the tips. I could give you tips," she joked.

Tony laughed.

"I don't doubt it."

* * *

Grace knew that being the new kid at school meant you were going to be stared at all day, whispered about in the halls and gossiped about endlessly. But being the new kid and also the daughter of a famous billionaire who happened to be Iron Man, well, that pushed everything to a new extreme.

"Your locker is gonna be in corridor H, so...just follow me," the blonde student, Summer, explained as they walked through the halls. "You'll get a hang of this place soon. Every room looks the same, every hall looks the same, it's basically the most boring layout you've ever seen."

"If it all looks the same then I'm guessing I'll be getting lost quite a bit," Grace sighed.

"You'll be fine, honestly. I started in the middle of my freshman year and I got my bearings after just a few days,"

"So you've been the new kid here before, huh?"

"Yeah, not the best time of my life," Summer shrugged. "I don't mean to make it sound like that, but being a new kid anywhere...well, it sucks."

"No arguments there," Grace huffed. "

"I guess it's different for you," Summer continued, looking to Grace.

"You mean worse?"

Summer gave her a sad smile.

"I...I don't believe everything I read, but it's hard to ignore the news broadcasting the new student all over television," she explained. "It's gotta suck to have so much happen all at once."

Grace shrugged, following closely by the girl's side and taking mental notes of the directions they were taking.

"Everyone thinks coming back to school will make things easier," Grace told her. "Give some routine, you know? Make everything a little more normal. But this is far from normal for me."

They continued down the halls, passing endless prying eyes and judging glances. Grace was getting used to blocking out the people who continued to stare at her everyday, knowing that this was going to be something she could never change. The world would never stop being fascinated by Tony Stark, and Grace would now be forever part of that.

"Just ignore that group," Summer warned, gesturing toward three girls standing by a locker, unsurprisingly staring back at the two. "Their moms run the parent volunteer committee. It's like a 'hey, here's some sandwiches, give us lots of money for our asshole kids' kind of thing. Like this school doesn't have enough money to throw their own events."

Grace looked over at them, noticing their less-than-friendly expressions. She returned the gaze with just as much indifference, rolling her eyes as she looked back toward the next corridor they were entering.

"Don't private schools get enough funding?"

"More than enough," Summer scoffed. "They just do it for their own benefit. Everything has to be the best of the best."

"Well, so far this place is living up to what I expected then," Grace sighed.

"Believe me, we're not all assholes," Summer assured. "And you can detect them pretty easily."

They continued walking until they finally made it to Grace's locker, stopping to unlock the door and unveil a completely empty, spacious shelf for Grace to shove all of her books into for the next few months. Summer explained that her own locker was just across from hers if she ever needed help or direction to her next class, and Grace officially decided that she was one of those non-assholes she had been talking about.

But it was only 9.05am, and there were plenty more students to deal with throughout the next several hours.

"Come find me at lunch, you can meet my friends, they'll really change your idea of fancy rich kids," Summer offered with a laugh. "But uh, good luck with your first day, yeah?"

Grace gave the girl a genuine, appreciative smile.

"Yeah, I'll take all the luck I can get."

* * *

Grace had managed to sneak off to the bathroom several times during her first three classes of the day, eager to text Lewis and tell him about every awkward encounter she experienced. Not to mention all of the stuck-up cliques that filled the halls. Lewis would get a real kick out of at least half the conversations Grace had overheard among the different groups here. Their parents couldn't pay for their ski trip this year. They were only being given a Mercedes, not a Lexus like they had been promised. Money, money, money and so many irrelevant problems.

But Summer had been right, they weren't all assholes.

And soon enough Grace was introduced to another group of Haverson Private. Summer's friends.

"So, what's he like?" Tyler asked, a mouthful of bread.

"Who?" Grace asked, ignoring the obvious man in question.

"Who?" he repeated mockingly. "Iron Man!"

Grace laughed at his excitement, watching him lean forward to listen to her impending answer.

"You think I call him Iron Man?" she chuckled.

"I would," Georgia chimed in, shrugging with a smirk. "I'd call him whatever he'd ask me to."

Grace looked over to her with raised brows, mirroring everyone else's expression.

"What is wrong with you?" Tyler asked, shaking his head.

"What? I've always said I find that man so fine,"

"He's a dad, Georgia. Jesus, he's her dad," he continued. "I'm sorry about the pervert over there,"

Grace just shook her head and took a deep breath, looking between them with a laugh.

"You guys are..." she trailed off.

"Freaks? Yeah, believe it or not I actually told them to be somewhat normal for the day," Summer sighed. "But that was asking too much apparently."

"We're normal," Tyler defended. "And we have normal questions. Everyone else is asking, just not...not to your face."

"Yeah, I can actually hear people talking. I don't think anyone in this school knows how to whisper."

"Well, we've never had a student so interesting before," Tyler shrugged. "I mean, there was Connor from Australia but the frenzy kind of died down once everyone got over his accent. I still get hung up on the way he says 'sweetheart', but...some things never change. You on the other hand, are interesting in all sorts of ways."

Grace shook her head, taking a bite of her apple.

"I'm really not."

"So you were an orphan since you were like, four?" Georgia asked, cutting right through the awkwardness.

Tyler and Summer flashed the girl another disapproving frown, but Grace decided to start actually answering them.

"Yeah," she nodded, shrugging. "I uh, didn't really know anything else."

"So you just went from family to family? That sounds horrible."

"Wasn't so bad. I mean, yes, moving so much sucks. But there's always a group home you go back to until they find you a home, and that's what I actually called home. I had friends there, family. So just because it's all over the newspapers that I lived in all this homes and got thrown out by all these families and didn't have parents doesn't mean I had a bad childhood. I just had a different one. Not one that I would wish upon anyone, but still...not a bad one."

The group fell silence around her for a few moments, realising that everything they read in magazines and headlines actually happened. It was Grace's life, splashed across newspapers and evening news reports. And here was just, just a kid, having to deal with all of that.

"We don't believe all the shit out there," Tyler assured. "The foster care system should be the focus, not you. They need to make some actual changes-"

"She gets it Ty," Georgia shushed. "What we're saying is that right now, you're just a kid that started at this same school we did. Maybe we ask a few weird questions but it's because we've never known anyone so in the spotlight and so connected to someone so insanely famous. But...you're just a kid, like us, and I bet that's all you wanna be treated like, right?"

Grace looked at the girl, a small and appreciative smile on her lips as she gave a nod.

"Yeah, just a kid," she sighed happily.


	10. Chapter 10

If Jarvis hadn't already alerted Tony to Grace making her way to the kitchen, the drawn out yawn that echoed down the hall would have been warning enough. Tony's lips pulled up into an amused grin as he watched his teenage daughter wander into the room, barely awake. It was 10am on Saturday, and somehow Grace looked like she could easily go back to sleep for another eight hours.

"Coffee?" she yawned again, rubbing her eyes.

Tony chuckled, turning to grab the fresh pot and a mug.

"Should you be drinking coffee?" he asked, wondering.

"I'm fifteen," she defended with a small laugh. "Did you drink coffee at fifteen?"

Tony thought back to his early teenage years, remembering all the coffee he drank to get through endless nights in the lab working assessments and projects in his MIT days. When he considered everything else he got up to in his youth, he would gladly let Grace drink as much coffee as she would like.

As he sat the mug down in front of her, he watched as she took a large gulp of the hot liquid and let out a content sigh.

"Good coffee," she grinned, leaning down against the the bench as she climbed onto one of the tall stools.

"Hungry?" he asked, already knowing the answer. "Pancakes? Waffles? Omelette?"

"You don't have to cook for me every morning, you know?" she told him softly.

"I know," he shrugged. "I like to. You're one of the rare few who like my cooking, believe it or not."

Grace laughed, brushing her hair out of her face as she took another sip of coffee, watching as Tony went into the refrigerator to dig out ingredients for pancakes. He knew Grace loved them, and he would never admit how happy it made him to know he could cook something that had become her favourite meal. Tony had a mental list of fatherly duties he had been prepared to struggle with, and among the endless worries had been cooking.

Maybe it was fine for him to have food prepared every day, to order in every night, to have every option available without any of the hassle, but Tony didn't want that for Grace. He wanted to learn how to do that, to be an actual parent and provide for his daughter. Pepper always had the refrigerator stocked nowadays with fresh fruit, vegetables, everything needed for a growing teenager. And snacks. So many snacks.

"What was that noise this morning?" she asked a moment later, finishing her coffee and contemplating another. "It was really weird, like metal banging into something."

Tony hadn't realized it had been loud enough to hear upstairs in the bedrooms.

"Uh, yeah, sorry about that," he shook his head. "Just had a slight malfunction when I got back in,"

"Back in?" she asked, slightly confused. "Oh...like, you were out in the suit?"

"Yeah, I just had something I had to go check out," he explained. "I didn't mean to frighten you-"

"It didn't frighten me," she denied. "I just went back to sleep. I figured it would have been something like that. I just keep forgetting that's a thing around here. Iron Man."

Tony watched her carefully, beginning to mix ingredients into a bowl.

"Is that...it doesn't have to be a thing. I can do all of that elsewhere, this is your home too so if it makes you uncomfort-"

"No, no, no," Grace shook her head, waving her hands. "That's not what I meant. It doesn't bother me, I just keep forgetting about it. I don't really know anything about it, so it still seems pretty crazy that I live with it."

"I never wanted to overwhelm you with all of that,"

"I know," she nodded with a smile. "And I'm not."

"Is it something you want to know more about?" he asked curiously.

And that's how, an hour and four pancakes later, Grace was following Tony down into the workshop. Pepper had always been insistent that Tony keep all of the Iron Man business out of the main areas of the house, both of them trying their best to make the transition as easy as possible for Grace. It was one thing to have an extremely famous father, but it was an even bigger adjustment when he was also a superhero.

The room was surrounded in thick glass, a keypad mounted on the door with a fingerprint scanner, and as soon as it opened Grace was hit with the smell of grease, metal and burning rubber.

"What are you burning?" Tony scolded when they walked into the room, directing his anger at a small robot that honestly seemed to be looking right back at him. "Yeah, Dum-E, that's you. I told you not to touch that and now it's on fire."

Grace watched him interact with the robot, her eyes wide in surprise. Tony turned to her, a small grin on his lips at her shock.

"Grace, that's Dum-E," he introduced. "He's sometimes good at handing me things, putting out fires, starting fires, lots of things,"

The teenager stared at the robot, eyes still wide in awe.

"You made that?" she asked, her voice soft and intrigued.

"One of the first bots I made," he nodded. "I was probably about your age,"

"My age?" she gasped. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah, I was in my first semester at MIT," he explained. "At first it could only roll around the room, then I got the arm moving, then I programmed some commands in,"

Grace shook her head, running her fingers through her hair.

"I can't believe you made that," she sighed. "I mean, I know you made all of this, but...like, I can barely do my math homework,"

"I've seen your grades Grace, you need to give yourself more credit," he encouraged. "I grew up with a father who didn't give me much of a choice. I had to be good at this stuff, and I had every opportunity come my way for it."

Grace listened to his words, nodding in understanding.

"You didn't like your dad?" she asked.

Tony shrugged his shoulders, thinking over his answer.

"That's a very complicated topic. I didn't hate him, but...there's a lot of things about my childhood I wish I could change. But I can't, and it all lead me to where I am now, and I guess that's okay," he sighed. "And I'd never want you to ever feel like I did. I don't want you to feel pressured into any sort of career or study, okay?"

"I know," Grace smiled.

"Good," he grinned back. "So, anything you want to know about?"

Looking around the room, Grace took a deep breath and scanned all of the suits against the walls. There were countless versions of each suit, all increasing in complexity. There were holograms everywhere, codes everywhere, science oozing out of every corner of the room. No wonder Tony spent hours on end down here working.

"I don't know where to start,"

"Well, how about I show you the stuff to stay away from first, yeah?" he suggested. "That way I won't have a heart attack each time you come in,"

They spent roughly two hours down there looking at all of Tony's creations, playing with holograms and looking at the extensive collections of luxury cars. If Grace felt overwhelmed before, this was a whole new level. But it didn't strike fear or panic, instead it only ignited interest, and not about any of the tech or equipment but rather the family she was part of.

This peaked especially when Tony turned on the projector in the back corner, dragging two chairs over for them to sit at and watch the old reels of footage from Tony's childhood. There were no recordings of Tony's first steps, first words or many of his milestones altogether. Instead there were reels and reels of Howard's old demonstrations, Tony's demonstrations as a kid, his graduations and his awards, and everything he had almost forgotten about entirely.

It wasn't until he dug all of this out all those months ago in search of a cure for his own palladium poisoning that he found so much information about his family. All of these recordings meant nothing to him as he grew up, his anger and frustrations clouding his own judgement, but now they seemed to mean so much more. Particularly when he had someone to share them with, someone who would be just as affected by it all.

"That's Howard, huh?" Grace mused, watching the black and white footage from one of the early Stark Expos.

"In all his glory," Tony nodded, watching his father walk around the stage in his suit showing off inventions with short-skirted women by his side.

There were certain aspects of Howard's life and personality that Tony knew he had taken on without even meaning to, or perhaps he had meant to. Growing up, the public wanted Tony to be Howard just as much as the man himself. He wanted his son to rise up and take over one day, to be just as successful and adored by the public. Somehow it happened to work out that way, but Tony knew there were parts of himself that were far better than Howard.

Maybe those parts only came about after he was in captivity for three months, when his own life became fragile and he had to face what he and his company had become, but nevertheless he was his own man now. He would be a better man, a better father.

"Sorry I can't carry on the moustache tradition," she joked, noticing Tony's intense stare at the man projected onto the wall.

Tony chuckled, shaking his head and running his hand over his face.

"It's probably time for that to end anyway," he shrugged. "And this is a goatee, by the way."

"Right," she laughed. "Totally different."

"I don't remember him not having a moustache," Tony thought. "Even as a kid, he always looked the same to me. Suit, moustache, well-kept. It was only when he drank that he looked a little messy."

"He drank a lot?"

"More than he should have," he shrugged, voice quieter now. "Guess that's another thing I inherited. You probably know all about that part of me, that's the part the media likes so much. All the parties, the drinking, the destruction, it's all glamorised so much and I fell right into it."

Grace watched him carefully, his eyes moving from the projector to his feet.

"That's how you met my mom though, isn't it?" she asked. "She worked at a casino, didn't she? That's what they all told me, anyway."

Tony thought for a moment, realising Grace actually had no idea how he and her mother met. It wasn't exactly a story Tony was excited to tell considering it was, in all honesty, a one-night stand. But this was something that only he had the answer to, something that no one else could tell Grace about.

"Yeah, a casino in Vegas," he answered. "She was working on the front desk."

"Reception? I thought she was a bartender, or a waitress, no one ever actually told me what she did apart from working at a casino."

"She was a receptionist and a bartender," Tony confirmed. "After she denied me the room, I went off with some friends for a few hours and when I got to the bar later that night, your mom was standing there watching me walk over to her, and if looks could kill I wouldn't be here today,"

Grace laughed, turning to face Tony and pull her knees up to her chest to lean against, completely immersed in the story.

"You said she didn't like you," she reminded.

"She did not," Tony chuckled, shaking his head. "I was kind of an ass, I probably stayed at reception for half an hour trying to get that room and she just wouldn't let up. She didn't care about my name, didn't care about the credit cards I handed over or even the wad of cash I dumped on the desk. She was not bending the rules for me and she made that very clear. So when I saw her at the bar, I just couldn't resist. She pretended to be busy so she didn't have to serve me, but I can be patient."

Grace tried to imagine her mother and Tony interacting that night, the way her mother would have looked and what Tony would have been like. Considering the videos Grace had seen of Tony in his partying years that played out on television and news broadcasts, she can imagine why her mother would have ignored him. But something must have happened to make her give in.

"I stayed at the bar for the rest of the night, even after my friends left for another hotel that did have the Penthouse available. I stayed there at the bar and only had two drinks, waiting for her to give me a chance."

"You liked her," Grace smiled.

"It was hard not to," he nodded. "She was beautiful, and she had so much attitude, I just couldn't walk away."

Grace couldn't wipe the smile from her face as she imagined her mother, pictured her young and healthy, taking no bullshit from anyone.

"I wish I knew her," she admit sadly, although the smile was still on her lips. "I can barely remember anything about her. Sometimes I smell a perfume and I think it was one that she wore, and i can remember her holding me and hugging me and kissing me and feeling so safe and warm. But some days I can't remember the sound of her voice or what she looked like without seeing a picture. You don't really remember much when you're three."

Tony listened to his daughter, his heart aching just as it did every time he was reminded of the life she had to live before now. He would never understand why Leah's father wanted Grace to be on her own rather than with Tony, and he wouldn't never forgive him for that. Maybe the man was hurt about losing his daughter, or maybe he really did just hate Tony Stark so much he couldn't bare the thought of his grandchild being raised in this life, but nothing would excuse the fact that he made the choice to have her go through the Foster Care system. Nothing.

"You're going to look just like her," he shook his head. "You already do. I can see her in everything you do, even the way you talk."

"Really?"

"Absolutely," Tony assured.

Grace sighed, content, staring up at him.

"You're a really good dad, you know?" she told him. "And I think my mom would have thought so too."

Tony's heart began racing at her admission, and it swelled with love for his daughter. She was too good to be his child, too honest and pure and just absolutely everything anyone could want in a daughter. It was hard to believe someone like that could come from Tony himself. That anything good could come from him. And yet here she was, and Tony would give and do anything on this Earth to make sure she was safe and loved for the rest of her life.


	11. Chapter 11

Tony always knew something would happen. It had been his greatest fear since finding out about Grace, and one that he had every right to have. There were endless reasons to get to Tony Stark, and that was through the people he loved, however few they were. And even when they weren't coming for Tony, he still had one more thing to lose now.

Grace wasn't even looking down at her bowl as she poured more cereal, following behind with some milk as Pepper nervously watched on, expecting it all to go over the kitchen bench and down onto the floor. But this seemed to be a skill Grace had perfected because not a single drop of milk escaped the bowl as her eyes focused on the screen over on the wall. Tony had left early that morning for Stark Industries to prepare for the press conference he was now addressing, and it was mesmerising to see him on television.

The man Grace was used to now, the man who walked around the house humming tunes while wearing grease-stained t-shirts and jeans was all but forgotten when he stood out there in front of the journalists and cameras all watching him intently. He knew how to work crowds and people, and Grace found it incredible.

"Weird seeing him in there, huh?" Pepper chuckled, noticing Grace's fixation.

"He's so...different with them," she nodded.

"He's been dealing with the press since he was a kid, he certainly knows how to play the part for them," Pepper agreed.

Grace wasn't even too sure what the press conference was about, but Tony spoke passionately and ignored the more personal and frankly stupid questions that were shouted from the crowd. Stark Industries was no longer what Grace remembered it being. It was all about weapons; selling, building and advancing. Now it was about helping the world in a better, safer way.

It was twenty minutes later when Grace realized she had to step down into Tony's workshop to grab the schoolbag she had tossed into the corner the evening before. Tony had been showing her new models of the floors they were renovating at Stark Tower in New York, and they had spent the rest of their evening down there just talking and playing with holograms until Tony realized they needed to be eating dinner.

That was something Tony was getting better at these days. He used to lock himself away for hours on end in the workshop, often bypassing all three meals of the day and turning to coffee instead. Having Grace to care for kept him in a healthy routine now, and he was starting to wonder how he managed to get through the day without stopping to have an actual meal. But there were a lot of things he couldn't believe he lived with before Grace, and the idea of living without her now seemed so far from possible that Tony couldn't even remember what his days were like back then. Now, if he was at home working, he would watch the clock and count down the hours until Grace would be home from school.

Tony had been enjoying showing Grace around the workshop in the afternoons, bringing her into his world and sharing it with her. He didn't go as far as to baby-proof the workshop once he had introduced Grace, but he did manage to put in place new safety protocols in case anything ever happened, and whenever he was out of the shop, all equipment was on lock-down. Tony knew Grace was a better kid than he was at her age, but curiosity could never be outgrown.

And curious Grace was. After scanning her way into the workshop and heading over to throw her bag over her shoulder, Grace could see the screen on Tony's main desk lighting up with new alerts from Jarvis. They were silenced, appearing only as bright flashes in a small box in the corner of the screen with a number inside. A number that kept growing the more Jarvis flashed.

It wasn't that Grace wanted to snoop or cross boundaries, but her interest was sparked, and she couldn't stop herself from clicking on the small box.

HAMES: Case File 32994 successfully archived.

HAMES: Case File 32995 successfully archived.

Grace's brows pulled together at the name, staring intently at the hundreds of pages of information downloaded into Tony's archive for his viewing. But these new files weren't the only files Tony had on this man. Grace could understand his interest, she really could, and she had expected some prying after she had told Tony what happened. But she didn't expect this. This was obsession.

But beneath all the files, hidden at the bottom of the list with a private email, were emails to lawyers. Grace couldn't help herself, moving her finger across the screen to open the messages.

Security Code Required

"Oh come on," Grace sighed, shaking her head.

Tony was going after Hames, and that meant Grace was going to have to go through everything all over again. The interviews, the questions, the endless nightmare of reliving that trauma over and over again, when it had been buried for so long.

* * *

Grace should have been listening to her geography teacher, she should have been taking notes about the upcoming assessments, she should have been doing anything other than hiding her phone beneath her desk and texting Lewis.

Gotta talk to you. Wanna meet up this afternoon?

Tapping her foot against her chair, Grace drowned out the sound of the teacher's voice as she waited for her friend's reply.

Please! Let's meet up half way. Everything all good?

Grace hurriedly texted her reply.

Yeah, just need to talk. I'll skip last period and meet you?

Skipping class already Miss Private School? How will you even get out of that place?

It's not a prison, and you know I'm stealthy.

Before Grace even started to think about how she actually was going to get out of this school without the security catching on, she began to draft a message for Tony. She would send it at the exact minute the school bell rang for the day. She would say Lewis was in town and she was spending the afternoon with him, she wouldn't tell him they were meeting halfway, and she wouldn't phrase it as a question.

Guilt lingered over her, but she wasn't doing anything wrong, really. She was at school, she would be missing one hour of the day, and she would be home before night. She hadn't given Tony any reason not to trust her, unless this very act itself was reason enough.

The rest of the day went by in a blur, Grace's mind had been consumed with making it out of the school and onto the bus to Santa Monica. She had sent the text message to Tony just a few minutes before she arrived, tossing the phone into the bag before hurrying off the bus and out onto the street. Lewis was going to be in the mall, they had agreed to meet at the pancake cafe inside, and Grace made her way in while sliding off her school blazer and shoving it into her backpack.

She pulled her hair out of the ponytail it had been in all day to hang down over either side of her shoulders, making sure no one saw her face. It was only just now hitting her that this was the first time she had been out on her own, completely, without any security to escort her through flashing cameras and continuous questions. It was exhilarating to be on her own again, to be just a kid once more, without any of the attention. Just for a while.

"Hey! You ordered without me!" Grace scolded, sliding into a booth across from Lewis, her eyes flickering between her friend and the stack of pancakes in front of him.

Lewis looked over to her with a roll of his eyes, holding up his phone.

"I texted and asked what you wanted!"

"Oh, I'm not looking at my phone," she shook her head, shoving her bag into the corner beside her.

"Why?"

"Because I told Tony I was spending the afternoon with you, but I didn't say where," she explained. "And if he calls me, I can't lie. So if I don't look, I can't answer and I won't feel as terrible."

"Will he be mad?"

Grace thought for a moment.

"I used to spend afternoons at the mall all the time! The bus ride was only thirty minutes, I'm not even far away and I'm with you and I'm safe so...and it's only if he find outs."

Lewis chuckled slightly.

"Dude, he's Iron Man, he's probably got you bugged and knows exactly where you are,"

"He wouldn't bug me," Grace shook her head. "I'm not a prisoner."

"No, but he seems like the sort of guy to go a little extra with everything," he shrugged. "If you have to be back before night, we probably have an hour at best, huh?"

Graced reached over to grab the fork Lewis sat down, using it to stab into the pancakes and get herself a mouthful with strawberries and syrup.

"Yeah, probably," she sighed, mumbling around her food.

"So what's up?"

Grace took a deep breath and ran her hands through her hair, making sure it hung down around her face once more. She was sure no one was looking for her here, but as soon as someone recognised her from all the magazines and gossip broadcasts, she was sure she wouldn't get back to Malibu quietly.

"Uh, do you remember the Hames?" she asked quietly. "You know, the dude who-"

"That asshole?" Lewis cut in, eyes wide. "You're kidding me. Don't tell me that piece of shit has been near y-"

"No! No, it's not that-"

"-because you can get that fucker arrested in a heartbeat, or you can just let me at him first and give him some of his own-"

"Lewis!" Grace scolded. "Shh!"

The pair settled down immediately, doing a quick scan of their surroundings and making sure they hadn't drawn the attention of any other customers. That was the last thing they needed. Lewis gave an apologetic look before taking the fork from Grace and getting himself another mouthful.

"Sorry," he shook his head. "But when I hear his name-"

"I know the feeling," she gave nod. "People have been chasing him down, trying to get an interview, trying to get answers."

"Why the hell are they targeting him?"

"The other foster families sold their information already, Hames is the only one who stayed quiet," she shrugged. "After he was charged, all the documents were sealed. All of them. So now the press want to know what's in them and why."

"But they can't get into the documents, right?"

"No, but if the case was reopened or the investigation started back up again, the chances of it all getting out to the public are pretty big."

Lewis watched her closely, curiously.

"Did you tell Tony about him?"

"Yeah, I had to," Grace sighed, rubbing her temples. "I mean, I told him what he was going to find out if he looked."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"I told him about the staircase, and about the police and the neighbours and the charges. If he started looking, if he got into those files, that's what he would find. So I didn't lie-"

"No, no you just left out all of the other shit he did to you," Lewis snapped, as quietly as he could. "Jesus, so all he knows about is the one that finally got him arrested?"

"Look, it's not worth getting into every single thing that happened there, okay? You know a lot of other kids have it worse. All I did was get pushed around a little, few bruises here and there. At the end of the day I got a bed and a couple of meals, right? And when you're on the seventh foster home, you put up with anything to make it work."

Lewis stared back at her, shaking his head.

"That fucker had anger issues, probably still does, and took it out on some kid he was supposed to be caring for. And his wife never got charged, and she was just as bad-"

"I've made my peace with it," she cut him off. "I've worked for years getting them both out of my head and trying to avoid some bullshit childhood-trauma, okay? I don't need this coming back to me, I don't need the world finding out and having to go through it all over again, I can't."

"Why are even talking about this now?"

Grace sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose to stave off a headache she could feel forming.

"Because Tony keeps digging," she groaned quietly.

"So he should. Maybe Tony is the one who can finally make sure that asshole never sees daylight again,"

"He's been emailing lawyers,"

Lewis stared up at her.

"He told you that?"

"No, I saw it in passing," she explained. "And he's got every piece of Jonathon's life on file. As soon as the lawyers dig and as soon as someone in Hames' circle says anything, it all comes out."

"Jesus, Grace," Lewis huffed. "You need to tell Tony all of it, and you need to explain what's going to happen if-"

"He knows what's going to happen," Grace shook her head. "He knows the press are close and this is just...I don't want people to know."

"You have nothing to be ashamed of," Lewis assured.

"I'm not ashamed," Grace denied, stealing the fork once again to poke at the pancakes. "It's just not something I want people to know about me."

Lewis watched his friend eat away at the pancakes, imagining what he would do if he were in her position. But the truth was, he had no idea what he would do. He would be just as confused and just as angry, and along with dealing with everything else, he would just about lose his mind.

"If you came to me for advice, I'm telling you to talk to Tony about all this. About all of this," he suggested.

Grace gave a slow, sad nod.

"I know,"

"And I can always be there with you if you need, you know that, right?" Lewis offered. "I'm a bus ride away, and I'll be there whenever you need."

Grace smiled, reaching over to grab his hand and squeeze.

"That goes for you too," she assured. "Whenever you need, whatever you need, I'm there."

* * *

It was ten minutes into the journey home when Grace finally dug through her bag to find her phone, already dreading the amount of missed called and messages waiting for her. As expected, the list of notifications when on and on and on. A majority from Tony, and a few from Pepper. The guilt was setting in now.

Grace decided to respond through text to one of Tony's 'where are you' messages, hoping a short explanation would be enough to ease his worries until she got back to Malibu. But it appeared that Tony had been watching and waiting, because as soon as she began typing out a message, her phone starting ringing. Looking around at the several other passengers on the bus, Grace reluctantly answers in a quiet voice.

"Hey, sorry my phone was dying so I had to leave it-"

"Where are you?" Tony demanded, his voice firm and frustrated.

"I'm just about to leave the mall," she lied, looking out the window the see any signs of how far out she was.

"You're with Lewis?" he asked, his voice off.

"Yeah, he came in for the afternoon, I sent a mess-"

"You can't send a message like that with no details and then not answer your phone all afternoon," he explained. "You really can't be out there on your own Grace, it's not safe."

"I'm safe, I'm fine," she assured, keeping her voice low. "It was just the mall."

The line went quiet for a moment, but Grace could hear Tony's breathing evening out.

"You can't...you can't do that,"

"I can't go see Lewis?"

"No, you can't not tell me where you are or not answer your phone or just go off the radar on me all afternoon,"

Grace sighed.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you worry, but I know how to-"

The conversation was ended abruptly when the bus screeched to a stop, and Grace's first thought was that it would be difficult to explain that noise away. Tony would know she's not at the mall, unless she could come up with an excuse for the screaming passengers as well.

"Grace?" Tony asked. "Grace!"

"Y-yeah I'm here, sorry, dropped my phone," she huffed out, sitting back on her seat.

In front of the bus was a now busted up taxi, the driver stepping out and already beginning to hurl abuse at the bus driver who looked equally enraged. This wasn't going to end well for Grace. Now she was going to have to explain how late she would be, assuming she could get another bus in the middle of this busy street.

"Look, right now I don't care that you're not at the mall," Tony explained. "But you need to tell me where you are so I can come get you."

Shit. Shit. Tony knew.

"I...just..." she stammered out.

The passengers on the bus were now marching their way down the aisle and stepping out onto the street, determined to find another way home. This was rush hour after all, everyone desperately wanted to get back home quickly. So Grace followed, hoping to get the same bus into Malibu with them.

But just as she stepped off onto the pavement, the phone was ripped from her hands and tossed to the gutter, smashing into tiny little pieces. Grace's mouth dropped open in shock, but it was soon covered by a forceful hand that pushed her along from the crowd of people into an almost empty parking lot, shoving her up against a run-down, green Ford.

"All these years later," his voice snarled, opening the passenger door. "And you're still causing me grief."


	12. Chapter 12

"Jarvis, I need that location," Tony called, rushing to prepare the suit.

"Tony, you can't fly out there in the suit," Pepper argued, following him around the workshop. "She's probably off with friends, and you going out there in that-"

"Signal has been lost sir," Jarvis explained. "Miss Greene's cell is no longer functional."

Tony's heart was racing, and he could see the look of dread taking over Pepper's expression.

"Play back the last part of the call," he ordered.

The workshop was filled with the sound of horns blaring, the sound of Grace's voice panicking to find an answer for her father, and then a gasp. A gasp that was broken off with a loud crash before the signal was completely lost.

"Satellite cannot find the location, is it likely to have been destroyed, sir."

Tony could feel every nerve in his body, he could feel every muscle clenching and his stomach twisting in knots. Grace was out there, in danger, and Tony didn't know where to look first. His best bet was going to the last location of the signal, but since that was twenty minutes away, he was sure Grace would be long gone by now.

He didn't care about the time of day or the rush hour traffic, he didn't care what sort of headlines he caused, he was going to find her.

"Tony," Pepper began cautiously. "What can I do?"

She had already been on the phone all evening talking to Rhodey, letting him know the situation and what to look for, and to Dave for any information on Lewis. Happy was out looking around all the malls nearby, about to widen the search to surroundings areas. Everyone was doing their part, but it didn't seem to be changing a thing.

"Just...just stay here, okay?" Tony breathed out, trying to calm himself. "Don't go out, in case...I can't..."

Pepper moved in close, putting her hands on his armoured shoulders, running one hand up to cradle the back of his head and force his gaze on her own.

"Hey, you'll find her," she assured. "She's a smart kid, Tony. And a lot tougher than we think."

"Still a kid though," he sighed. "My kid. She's my responsibility Pepper. Ours."

"We're going to find her," she told him again. "Go on, I'll stay right here in case I hear anything."

Tony gave a slow nod, his mind still reeling, thinking of where he was supposed to start and what he was supposed to do. If this were an assignment, if he had been given a person or a group to go after and bring in, he would be thinking clearer than ever. But this wasn't a mission that Tony could just switch to auto-pilot to get in and get the job done. This was Grace, and this was his biggest fear.

Pepper stepped back, watching the roof retract above Tony, the faceplate coming up to cover his worried face, before he was gone.

* * *

Grace could barely look at the man driving them through the streets, afraid to make eye contact or spark an outburst. Jonathan Hames had a very short temper, and any kind of comment or facial expression could hit a nerve.

He had been muttering to himself as they rounded each corner, hit every red light, passed endless traffic. Grace didn't have the courage to ask where they were going or what he wanted with her, so instead she sat there quietly and endured the unknown.

"You don't want to cause a scene," he mumbled, his hands gripping the wheel. "You don't want that, do you?"

Grace forced herself to look over to him, wondering if he was speaking to her.

"N-no," she whispered. "I don't."

"Good," he nodded, taking a deep breath. "A lot of people have been asking me about you."

"I know-"

"I'm not finished," he snapped. "They've been asking me why there's no information about your time with me and Theresa. Like none of it existed."

"The courts sealed it," Grace explained. "You know that."

"Everything those courts sealed are lies," Jonathan seethed. "And you're going to fix that."

"Fix it? How am I supposed to-"

"You're going to fix it!" he yelled, accelerating down the highway. "I'm sick of my life being dictated by you and everything you made us put up with! We can't move to a city you're in, we can't travel where we want to, we can't get the jobs we want to!"

"Are you kidding me!" Grace fired back. "You didn't even to any jail time for what you did! All you got was charged and let out on bail, and you've been coasting ever since! Anyone else would have been-"

Grace was silenced with a slap to the face, Jonathan reaching over to throw his hand against her face hard enough that she hit the window at her side. All of the might and energy was ripped from Grace in a flash, a gasp escaping her lips instead, as she sat there looking at the car door and wishing she could open it and roll out onto the hard concrete road of the highway. But Jonathan had the doors locked, and she couldn't fight to open them.

You don't want to cause a scene.

"I should have never taken you in," he shook his head, anger in his voice. "All you've done is cause us trouble, even after you left. And now you're with Stark, getting all his money while we sit back and rot with nothing. Can't even make money from an interview, can't make money from anything because of you!"

Grace sat in silence, staring out in the window in the hopes something would happen for her to escape. A red light, she could open the lock and scramble out of the car. But Jonathan would chase her, and he would yell and scream and people would film it and it would be all over newspapers and news stations for weeks. It would cause a scene, and Jonathan knew Grace didn't want that.

The last she or Tony needed was this in the media.

"You're going to tell the reporters what really happened," Jonathan explained. "You'll tell them all the lies you told the police, how you made it all up and hurt yourself just to make it look like we were bad people, like we were bad parents."

Grace could taste blood on her lips from where her teeth had stabbed into her skin, but now she was biting at them as if to draw more out. Her eyes were stinging with tears of frustration, and she she could think about once again was rolling out of this moving car.

"So, you're going to fix it," Jonathan repeated. "And you're going to make sure we have the money we're owed. Do you understand?"

"How am I supposed to fix that?" Grace asked, pushing her luck with Jonathon's mood.

"We're going to make a video, a confessional really, from you. That'll be our press release, and that's where we'll start to get our money."

"A video?" Grace repeated. "Look, wherever you're taking me...people are going to be looking for me,"

Jonathan shook his head.

"I'm not an idiot," he muttered. "I have a place in mind, Theresa's meeting us there and we'll have it done within the hour. I'll be taking bids from channels by midnight,"

Grace's panic began to heighten. If they were going somewhere nearby, and if Jonathan intended to have this 'confessional' within an hour, this would be all over every media outlet by morning. This was happening.

And it was going to be her own fault. She had been the one to skip out on school, to lie to Tony and Pepper and leave town without letting either of them know. And now she was going to ruin the family she had wished for her whole life.

* * *

Tony found Grace's found smashed to pieces in the gutter just outside Santa Monica. It hadn't been dropped accidentally, it had been thrown down with force and intention. Someone didn't want Grace to be found, and Tony felt his whole body fill with adrenaline at the physical evidence. He easily ignored the gasps and snapping cameras around him as he stood by the road in the Iron Man suit, looking down at the cell in his hands. But he didn't stay long, taking the destroyed phone with him as he rocketed up into the night sky.

"Tony, Lewis is calling," Pepper's voice filtered through.

"Is she with him?" he asked, anxious.

"No," she sighed, disappointed.

"Put him through,"

They had been trying to reach him ever since Tony had received Grace's text that she was meeting with him, but just like Grace, he hadn't been responding.

"Mr. Stark?"

"Lewis, when did you last see Grace?"

"Uh, we...we were at the mall," Lewis stuttered, obviously nervous.

"I don't care if you guys were out of town or skipped class right now, alright? I just need to know where you were, no bullshit."

There was a slight pause.

"I don't want her to be in troubl-"

"She's in trouble right now kid, dangerous trouble," Tony explained. "Where were you guys?"

Lewis debated for a moment, but knowing Grace was in danger pushed him in the right direction. They always had one another's backs, always. Each time they broke a rule, each time they were somewhere they weren't supposed to be, they always covered. But he needed to help her.

"We were at a mall in Santa Monica, just eating pancakes and talking, we didn't go anywhere else and that's all we did, I swear. Grace got on a bus back to Malibu and I went caught another back home. I saw her get on that bus Mr. Stark, I promise."

Tony's mind was reeling, thinking of the possibilities.

"Why did you guys go to Santa Monica? Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"Grace asked me to meet her to talk, and we said we'd meet halfway," Lewis explained.

"Talk about what? Was she wanting to...to leave?" Tony asked.

"No, no she doesn't want to leave. She was talking about...about Hames, you know?"

Tony could feel his chest tightening.

"What about Hames?"

"Just that she found out t-that you were looking into him and talking to lawyers and she freaked out because she didn't want everything to come back up and for you to find everything and if the media started digging...she was just worried, that's all, and I was there when it all happened, so...so I think that's why she wanted to come talk to me about it."

"Jarvis, update on Hames immediately," Tony ordered. "Lewis, has he contacted her?"

"No, no he hasn't," the boy explained. "I'd kick his ass myself if he did."

"Grace has told me about him, that's why I've been looking into it,"

"I don't think she's told you everything," Lewis sighed. "I don't want to tell you anything she hasn't but...that guy is a lot worse than she's letting on."

"You want to elaborate on that?"

"Sir, Mr. Hames left his residence early this morning and has not returned." Jarvis cut in.

Tony had been flying around in circles for a minute now while talking to Lewis, but at the news of Hames, he was immediately tracking the man. He had eyes on him for weeks now, but Jarvis was sending through coordinates for the last sighting of his vehicle. Unsurprisingly, it was a lot closer than Tony would have liked.

Now he had his target.

"You don't think...Grace was going straight home, I swear-"

"I know, I believe you kid," Tony assured, soaring through the sky to get closer to the tracking coordinates. "Listen, what did you mean Grace hasn't told me everything?"

There was another small pause.

"Hames didn't just break Grace's arm. That's the only one they got him on, but he's a bigger asshole than you or anyone else thinks. His wife is batshit too, I don't even know how they got approved to be foster carers. They took her in for the pay check but they weren't meeting the standards and spent none of the money on Grace. They only saw her as an income."

"He's hurt her more than once?" Tony asked, blood boiling.

"Pushing her down the stairs was the worst of it, but...yeah," Lewis explained. "W-what can I do? I want to help!"

Tony couldn't even find words at the moment. All he could think about was Grace as a little child. Helpless, innocent, full of life and laughter and awe, and Hames hurting her over and over again. His daughter. While Tony was out who knows where.

But he couldn't focus on that right now. He needed to find her and protect her, just like he should have all those years ago.

"No, stay home," Tony insisted. "If you hear from her, you call me."

And with that, Tony cut the line.

* * *

Grace thought about running. It was the logical option. Any hostage would run, scream, get the attention of anyone around them and get away from their captor. But all Grace could think about were the cameras and the stories they would run. The picture they would paint of Tony being a bad father, letting his daughter be taken for ransom, unable to help her. Grace couldn't do it, because this was as far from Tony's fault as possible.

As Jonathan pulled into the parking lot of a busy 7-Eleven, he turned off the car and looked to Grace warningly.

"You don't run, you don't scream, you follow me," he ordered. "Got it? Because this could go a lot worse."

Grace stared into his mad eyes, wondering if he was on something. He seemed so much more on edge now, like something had kicked into his system. He was getting crazier by the minute. Grace knew he was a drinker, but she couldn't smell anything on him.

Jonathan got out first, walking over to Grace's side and opening the door gently with a blank, bored expression.

"Slowly," he whispered, closing the door behind her and locking the car.

Then he walked them over to a new, shiny white Prius. He opened the back door, gesturing for her to get inside. As soon as Grace moved into the vehicle, she knew exactly who was sitting in the driver's seat. She could smell the perfume instantly, and it made her stomach churn.

"Sweetie," Theresa smiled, brown teeth and raspy voice just as Grace remembered. "It's nice to see you."

"Yeah, best day ever," Grace deadpanned. "Do either of you know what you're doing right now?"

Jonathan closed his door, pulled on his seatbelt and nestled back into his chair.

"I know that Tony Stark would be looking for you, and he'll be looking for a green Ford," he sighed. "And he'll find it right there, parked on the opposite lot of the security camera."

"And we'll be nowhere near it," Theresa added, reversing out of the park and driving them back out onto the highway. "It'll be over in an hour, tops, Grace."

"That makes me feel so much better," she bit back. "So you grew some brain cells since we let met, huh?"

"I see you've still got that smart mouth," Theresa shook her head. "I don't know where you got that attitude as a little girl Grace, but it doesn't suit you."

"Must have picked it up along the way, you know, I had such exemplary role models around me,"

"And you wonder why you drove us crazy," Jonathan groaned. "You're going to sit there silently until we get to the motel, you got that?"

"Motel? Jeez, for someone with no money you sure have expensive taste,"

"What did I just say?" he yelled, startling Grace further back into her seat.

"Just sit there!" Theresa snapped back.

Grace watched her hands gripping the wheel, shaking, trembling. They were definitely on something, and right now they were just climbing and climbing and Grace really didn't want to be around when they reached the top. Theresa was speeding, Jonathan was yelling, and Grace was once again back at mulling over jumping out of the moving car.

All she wanted right now was to go back to this morning and change every decision she made today. At least Jonathan was right about her. She was the same kid she had always been. Making mistakes and messing up everything.

* * *

"Jarvis I need footage from the parking lot," Tony ordered.

"Footage does not show the car, sir."

Tony groaned, scanning the area once again from above where he flew. He could see people in the streets pointing their cell phones toward him, snapping photos of Iron Man hovering above them.

"Tap into the street cams," he directed. "Use progressive captures, anything you can get. Bypass public code, I'll deal with that later,"

"Scanning now, sir."

Tony looked around the streets as best he could from his vantage point, but he was seeing no sign of Grace or Hames. It was obvious that the man had abandoned the vehicle, knowing that Tony would be tracking him, and he was growing angrier with each passing second. Tony could see lights soaring down the highway, traffic beginning to build up once again from the lights at the end of the road near the gas station, and he began scanning as many cars as he could for anything suspicious.

If Grace was thrown into the trunk, he would be able to see it. If someone was struggling in the back of a car, he would see it. But nothing came up that alerted him, and he was quickly worrying that he just was simply too late to find anything valuable to go off.

"Pedestrian security footage picked up a match for Jonathon Hames three blocks away," Jarvis alerted.

Tony pulled up the image on screen. Jonathan was in the passenger seat, eyes wide open and full of panic.

"Did you get an I.D on the driver?"

"Currently scanning for another angle, sir."

"Follow the security footage from that street, I need a car model and registration. Anything you can get me, now!"

* * *

Grace was surprised they hadn't been pulled over by police. Theresa was barely staying inside the painted white lines, and she certainly wasn't obeying the speed limit. She was positive now that she was in a car with two high, extremely agitated people who seemed to be unravelling before her eyes.

When they finally pulled into the motel parking lot, both Jonathan and Theresa were shaking.

"Stay there," Jonathan ordered.

Grace had no plans to move anyway, too busy looking around for any sign of other guests or security cameras nearby. Jonathan stepped out first, making his way around to meet Theresa at the front of the car. They muttered among themselves for a few moments, glancing back at Grace a few times to make sure she wasn't planning to run or make any trouble. Then Theresa walked over to a room with lights peeking through the curtains, opening the door and looking back for Jonathan to follow.

With a small gesture, Jonathan called Grace out. She didn't move at first, wondering if it would be worth running. There were no people around, no one to catch a photo opportunity, no one to worry about. She could run and find somewhere to hide, she could find a payphone, she could run to a gas station bathroom and lock herself inside. But all of her thoughts were halted immediately when Jonathan opened the car door, holding a small, glistening knife in his hand.

"Don't make me use this," he growled. "Get your ass out of the car and into the room, now."

Grace slowly slid out of her seat, standing by Jonathan's side and feeling the knife just at the edge of her ribs. There was no way Jonathan was going to stab her, he could never get what he wanted out of all this if he did, but he could make it hurt enough to have her cooperation.

"You're insane," Grace bit out, looking up to Theresa by the door. "Both of you."

"This is what you've driven us to," Jonathan shook his head. "We wouldn't be like this if it weren't for you! Do you think it's fair you get to live in a mansion with everything you could ever want while we have nothing?"

"You did that to yourself," Grace shook her head, listening as the door closed behind them.

"We live from day to day!" Theresa yelled. "Jonathan can't work, and the money I make barely gets us by. Every other family you made your way through get to sell their story and make some money off putting up with you, and what do we get? We can't even say your name without being threatened! We get thrown in jail the minute we talk about you, all because of the bullshit you told the police!"

"Oh, bullshit, was it?" Grace yelled back, growing infuriated. "So you didn't shove me into the walls every night? You didn't spend the money on booze every week and just send me to school with stale bread? It's called child neglect and child abuse, and I didn't push either of you assholes into that!"

Jonathan moved in nearby once again, grabbing Grace around her throat.

"Watch your mouth!" he warned.

"Go on, hit me!" Grace countered. "Your video will mean shit! You're going to put me on camera to stand up for you two when I've got your hand prints on my face? You're both delusional!"

"Don't push me," Jonathan grunted, shoving her back into the wall. "This could go a whole other way Grace,"

"No it won't," she laughed, struggling now for air. "You won't get your money."

Theresa grabbed Jonathan's back, pulling him away from her. Grace inhaled as deep as she could once his hand let go of her throat, reaching up to rub the swelling skin. He looked mad, like he was on a whole other planet. They were both sweating now.

"Shit, shit!" Jonathan groaned, kicking the edge of the couch. "I need...I need another hit, and then we'll start."

Theresa nodded, moving to the bag she had sat on the bed.

As Jonathan moved away to join his wife, to grab whatever drug they both needed to get by these days, Grace made her first and final snap decision. Running to the door, she grabbed the handle and yanked it open, only to find the chain lock attached to the wall. After the initial resistance, she undid the lock and tried again, but she felt Jonathan's arms around her waist before she had another chance, Theresa's voice screaming in the background of the mayhem,

"No! You don't get to leave us!" she screamed.

Grace kicked her legs out, trying to get out of Jonathan's grip, and she couldn't help feeling like a child all over again. No matter what she did when she was little, she couldn't get out of Jonathan's hold, and that had remained unchanged.

"Shut up! Shut up!" he yelled, looking to Theresa and then back to Grace. "You little shit!"

Grace reached out to hit him in the face, but it was doing nothing but anger him. Soon enough, the knife was back, pressed against her collarbone with enough pressure to surely draw blood. She could feel it wetting her crisp, white school shirt, and she bit down on her lip and held in a scream.

"You will fix this-"

Grace could feel Jonathan's body fall into hers, the knife slipping from his hand and bouncing off somewhere on the floor. The motel room door now laid behind Jonathan's crouching body, slamming into him enough to knock him down. Theresa's scream filled the room once more, and when Grace looked over, she could see the woman crouched down with her hands above her head, cowering.

"Stay down! Stay down!"

Grace knew that voice. It was Rhodey. He was standing above Jonathan, just beside Theresa, pointing a gun between the both of them with a hard, furious expression. Her whole body was shaking as she watched on, but Rhodey's eyes only glanced at Grace for a moment before they turned back to the other man by his side.

Tony. Standing by the door, his red and gold Iron Man suit slowly retracting around his body so he could step out.

Grace had never seen someone looked so angry in her life. It was a look she couldn't ever imagine on Tony, and yet here he was, his expression speaking louder than the screams coming from Theresa in the corner.

She watched him march over to take hold of Jonathan's shirt, flipping the man over before reaching down and grabbing him by his collar. Tony lifted him to his feet without a word, staring directly into his eyes as his jaw clenched and brows pulled together. For a second, just a second, Grace wondered if Tony was going to kill him right there and then with just his bare hands.

"The police are a minute out," Rhodey reminded him, his voice breathy and low.

Tony continued staring at the man, and Jonathan's mouth quivered as if he was looking for something to say. But it was obvious he was terrified to his core, and with good reason.


	13. Chapter 13

Grace sat up on the high hospital bed, swinging her legs lazily and slowly in front of her, listening to the voices on the other side of the door to the private room. It was almost midnight and she was still in her school uniform, and it was only just hitting her now that she had lost her schoolbag at some point in her chaotic afternoon. There were two textbooks inside and all her notes and equipment. And her phone. Although Grace knew that wasn't lost but rather smashed to pieces in the gutter somewhere.

As much as Grace protested, Tony had insisted they come to the hospital before going home. Grace had bloodstains on her chest of her shirt and a nasty looking bruise forming on her face and neck. There was nothing a hospital could do to change any of that. They weren't serious injuries, they were barely band-aid worthy, but Grace didn't fight against Tony's obvious concern. Pepper had met them there, rushing to Grace and hugging her close the moment she saw her. It felt nice to be held like that. In an embrace that Grace knew was full of genuine love and comfort.

"Okay sweetie, you ready to head home?" Pepper asked, walking back into the room with a gentle smile.

Grace sighed, nodding as she held the pack of ice against her face. Pepper held her arm around Grace as they walked out of the room, trailing down hallways and corridors until they made it to the back, private entrance. Happy was waiting with the car, and just as Grace suspected, Tony wasn't inside.

"Where's Tony?" Grace asked as Pepper slid into the back seat beside her.

Pepper looked up sadly at the teenager.

"He wanted to make sure they were arrested and charged," she explained. "He's meeting with our lawyers at the police station."

"Is he coming back tonight?"

"He shouldn't be much longer," Pepper assured.

Grace knew there was more to it than that. She knew Pepper wasn't telling her everything, and she really couldn't blame her. Grace had lied to both of them and this was the end result. They both had every right to be mad at her, and she wasn't ruling out the possibility of Tony just not talking to her for a few days. She had never seen him look so angry.

They remained in silence for most of the journey home, Grace feeling her eyes droop with exhaustion but unable to actually let herself rest.

"How is it feeling? Still aching?" Pepper asked as they made their way down the long driveway to the mansion.

"No, it's okay," Grace nodded, leaning back. "I'm tired,"

"I'd imagine you would be. Are you hungry? I can get something ready while you take a shower,"

"That's okay," Grace shook her head.

"I think you should eat something," Pepper sighed. "Grilled cheese? Even if you only eat a few bites."

Grace smiled, giving a small nod.

The shower was better than she had been expecting. The hot water on her skin seemed to melt away the aches all over her body, and suddenly she felt like she could collapse down onto her bed and sleep for the next few days. She stood under the water for longer than usual, closing her eyes and letting it wash off everything about this night. But the reminders on her skin wouldn't be so easy to rid from just a shower.

When she stepped out and looked into the mirror, she could see the purpling skin growing darker and darker on her neck and left cheek. The cut along her collarbone wasn't too deep, covered by only a thin layer of gauze and bandage, barely any red peeking through the material. She had come out of this better than expected, and far better off than what could have happened if Tony hadn't managed to find her.

The press hadn't caught onto the story yet, but since the police were involved and Hames was being arrested, it wouldn't be long.

Grace carefully dressed herself in her pyjamas, stretching out her arms and ignoring the ache that was sent through her entire body. It was amazing how painful it could be to unwind. When she stepped out into the hall, she could smell the grilled cheese Pepper was preparing downstairs and immediately felt how hungry she was. She was glad Pepper had pushed for her to eat something.

As she made her way into the kitchen, Grace could hear loud noises from beneath them, downstairs in the workshop. Metal was clanging, music was blaring, and it was obvious now that Tony had returned home. But Grace was yet to see him.

"Here you go," Pepper smiled, pushing the plate toward the teen.

Grace's mouth was watering by the time she reached out to grab the grilled cheese sandwich, letting out a long sigh of satisfaction a moment later.

"Thanks Pepper," she mumbled around a mouthful.

"You're welcome. Feel better after the shower?" she asked.

"Much better," Grace nodded, slowing her bites to savour the rest of the sandwich.

She could feel Pepper's eyes on her as she continued to eat, could feel the concern radiating out of her as she held back all of her questions. Grace could feel the guilt welling up in her stomach again and it was going to make her sick.

"I'm...I'm really sorry," she spoke quietly. "I shouldn't have left,"

"It's okay," Pepper insisted, shaking her head gently. "Honey, you've dealt with so much these past few months."

"And you and Tony have done everything for me and more, and I've screwed it all up," she sighed. "I don't know why I do this, but I just...I freak out and ruin everything good in my life. I was so worried about you and Tony finding out everything about Hames and then I found out lawyers were involved and that Tony had been looking into Hames files and I didn't know what to do and Lewis is like my brother, I didn't know who else to talk to,"

Grace left her sandwich on the plate, pulling her hands up to cover her face as she took a few deep breaths. Pepper moved to her side, wrapping her arms around Grace and holding her close. Too much had happened in such a small amount of time and it was all hitting her now, and she had never felt more exhausted in her life.

"Shh, it's okay," Pepper assured, running her hands up Grace's back. "Sweetie, this isn't your fault okay? Hames was going to do this no matter what, and that isn't on you. No one's blaming you for what happened. But you can always come to us to talk, okay? Always. About anything."

Grace gave a few nods, but all of her energy seemed to disappear. She couldn't even finish the sandwich she had been enjoying until a minute ago.

"I think you need to head up to bed, huh? It's been a big day," Pepper advised.

Grace leaned into Pepper's embrace for a moment.

"He's really mad at me, isn't he?"

"He's not mad," Pepper shook her head, voice firm and sure. "And definitely not mad at you, he's just frustrated with everything right now, including himself. "

Grace sat back, leaning down onto the counter as she tried to gulp down some water.

"I'm the one who lied," she shook her head. "I'm just not meant to be in one place for too long. Eventually I screw up, just like this, and everyone always regrets putting their hand up to deal with me."

"Grace, that's not what's happening," Pepper fought. "We don't regret anything about you,"

The teen was already standing up now, rubbing at her eyes tiredly and shaking her head in denial.

"Well, if you don't now, you will in the morning when it's all over the news what a mess up kid I am,"

Pepper watched sadly as Grace wandered away, heading up to her bedroom. Maybe she just needed the rest, needed some time to process everything that had happened, to really see that this wasn't her fault. This didn't make either Pepper or Tony think any less of her or their decision to be a family.

Downstairs, locked away in his workshop stewing over everything that happened, Tony's heart broke further while he listened to their conversation. Pepper and Grace's voice had filtered into the workshop shortly after Jarvis had alerted him that Grace was in the kitchen eating. He wanted to go upstairs to see her, to make sure she was okay, but he couldn't.

Tony had made a lot of mistakes in his life and some terrible, terrible decisions. But he had never been more disappointed in himself than right now. His daughter had been taken, had been hurt, and he had failed in protecting her from that. Putting Hames in a prison cell did little to make him feel better about all of this. Arrested or not, Hames was never getting near Grace again, he was making sure of that. But the fact that Tony was unaware of how dangerous that man was and how much he had hurt Grace in the past made him feel physically ill.

And now Grace thought Tony hated her, and he didn't think he could feel any lower.

"Sir, Grace seems to be exhibiting signs of hyperventilation and panic," Jarvis informed.

Tony was brought back from his thoughts by the alert, his own heart beginning to race.

"Where is she?"

"In her bedroom, sir,"

This was what being a father was about. He needed to be there for her, he needed to offer the comfort she needed, and he desperately wanted to. Tony only debated his decision for a single second before he rushed out of the room, running up the stairs and into the now empty living area. Pepper must have gone to their room, giving Tony the space to come up when he was ready. Tony hurried up the stairs and down the hall, slowing just outside of Grace's room.

There was no way he was going to barge in on her, and Grace had every right to turn him away.

"Grace?" he called out, knocking lightly.

He could hear hurried breaths on the other side of the door, and a low hum of acknowledgement. Tony took that as enough permission to at least open the door, poking his head through to see her.

"I-I'm okay," she nodded, trying to nod her head in assurance. "I-I'm...I'm g-good,"

Tony couldn't have felt any worse. He shuffled into the room, bringing Grace into full view. She was sitting next to her bed, cross-legged on the floor, with her hair hanging down low in front of her face as she breathed in jerky, rushed movements.

"You're okay," Tony whispered, kneeling down to crouch by her side. "Hey, look at me,"

Grace took a moment to respond, slowly lifting her head to meet his gaze.

Tony had no words to give her right now that could help. Words weren't going to do a thing in this situation. So instead, he pulled her into his arms, holding her tighter than ever before. Grace nestled into his embrace, and Tony felt her unsteady breathing turn into sobs as she clutched at him with equal force. He could feel her whole body shaking as she heaved in breaths, and he could feel her heart racing as it pressed against his own, right next to the reactor.

"You're okay," he assured, whispering repeatedly.

"I'm sorry," she cried. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry-"

"Stop, hey, shh," Tony soothed. "This isn't your fault, it's okay, stop worryin-"

"It is my fault!" she fought, her breathing picking up speed once again. "I s-shouldn't have-"

"The only thing I care about right now is that you're here and you're safe and you're home, okay?"

Grace continued to sob into his shoulder as Tony rubbed her back softly, hoping that he was helping her calm down. The rapid breaths soon slowed, but the pace still worried Tony. She was going to make herself sick if she continued this rollercoaster of panic.

"You're home, and I've got you," Tony whispered, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Okay? I've got you, I promise."

Tony never lessened his grip on Grace as she leaned into his body, her face nestled into the crook of his neck as she slowly let her weight fall into his arms. Tony readjusted himself on the floor, letting Grace gently fall down to lay in his lap, still burrowed comfortably into his arms. Tony continued to run his hand over her back, slowly moving to weaving his fingers through her hair as he watched her eyes flutter closed.

In that moment, Tony realized this was as close as he was going to get to experiencing Grace's young childhood. He was tired, exhausted, and his head felt like exploding, but he had no plans to move from his position. He was going to stay here all night if that's what it took to keep Grace comfortable and at peace. Tony imagined doing the same thing with a five year old Grace who couldn't sleep because of monsters or nightmares, or a baby Grace who couldn't sleep because she was teething and just wanted constant comfort. This was as close as he would get, and he could feel the moment he fell in love with fatherhood.

Looking at how peaceful Grace was in his arms, how safe she must have felt, made his heart soar with love. A love he had never felt before, and one that would never go away.

It was ten minutes later when Pepper stepped into the room, carrying a glass of water, and saw the pair sat on the floor. Grace was out like a light, and Tony moved his gaze from his daughter to Pepper, a tired but content smile on his lips.

"Are you okay?" she whispered.

Tony gave a nod.

"I think I'm gonna stay here for the night,"

"Okay," Pepper grinned, setting down the water and pressing a kiss to Tony's forehead.

Tony watched as Pepper laid a hand on Grace's head, lovingly stroking some hair from her face, marvelling at Grace's small sigh.

After the day they had, Tony didn't think he would end it by being so happy, yet here he was.

* * *

 **Thank you to everyone reading and leaving a review, it's so appreciated! I hope you're enjoying xx**


	14. Chapter 14

Grace woke up in a way she never had before. In her father's arms. Surrounded, cradled and enveloped in his protective embrace as they laid back against her bed, sitting rather uncomfortably on the floor of her bedroom. Safe, content, and loved.

The bruise across her jaw and cheek seemed to be aching more than ever now that the adrenaline of the previous day had worn off, but she tried not to think about it as she lifted herself from her position on Tony's side. She she suppressed a wince, she rubbed her still-tired eyes and looked up to her father who seemed to be wide awake.

"Okay?" Tony asked, reaching over to cup her cheek.

He hated that he could feel her swollen skin beneath his palm, reminding him that Hames had hurt her before he could stop him. But Grace just gave him a nod and a soft smile, taking in a deep breath.

"It's nothing," she shrugged, watching as his hand lowered back down to his lap.

"It's not," he denied. "But he is never going to hurt you again, okay? I promise you that. I know...I should have looked into it more, I should have known if he hurt you once he would have done it before-"

"I didn't want you to know," she admit. "I don't...it seems stupid now, I guess I really should have told you."

"No, hey, you don't have to explain it to me," Tony shook his head. "I know what it's like to want to bury some things from your childhood. But you never have to bury anything from me, okay? If you're scared or worried about something, I will never, ever be upset with you coming to me. I'll never be mad or ashamed or disappointed, ever."

Grace did her best to give Tony a genuine smile, but it soon faded away as she shook her head in denial.

"You don't know that,"

"Oh, but I do," Tony assured. "Look, a reason I never had a family in mind for my future was because I never wanted to be my father. He is someone who I could never go to with a problem, because it would end up being on me, no matter what. He wanted me to be independent and be able to handle the world on my own, and it might have been a great idea in theory but...I didn't enjoy my childhood. And the idea of ruining some kid's childhood terrified me. It still does."

Grace watched him, noticing his eyes beginning to well slightly at just some of the memories of his own childhood.

"Are you scared with me?" she asked.

"Every day," he admit, shaking his head. "From the moment I found out about you."

And then Grace said something that Tony would remember for the rest of his life and always hold incredibly close to his heart.

"You've given me a better childhood in these past few months than I had for the first 15 years of my life," she admit. "So if you're still worried about being a shitty father, you really don't need to be. I think you're the best dad in the world, and I'm the luckiest kid in the world because you're mine,"

Tony couldn't find words after that.

* * *

Grace walked downstairs later that day after a long shower with damp, clean hair hanging over her shoulders to the smell of pizza and pasta filling the kitchen. For a moment, she thought Pepper or Tony had gone on a cooking frenzy, but when she walked into the room she could see the takeout bags from Tony's favourite Italian restaurant sitting on the counter.

"Thought you could use some carby goodness," Pepper explained.

It was only just hitting Grace how hungry she was, and she nodded excitedly. She still felt so tired, but it was almost three in the afternoon and she had only just stepped out of her bedroom for the first time that day. They were all tired. No one could sleep after the ordeal of the day before, and Grace tried not to let that guilt creep back in and ruin her appetite once again.

Before she took a seat at the kitchen bench, Grace stopped by the doorway and stared into the living room. Although muted, Grace could see the news report for the evening broadcasting the drama of the day before. There was footage of Tony in the Iron Man suit flying around close to people in the streets, and then photos of Jonathan and Theresa Hames mugshots. They had caught on to the news of their arrest, but all other details seemed to be well-hidden. For now.

"We've increased the media boundaries," Pepper explained, pulling out a few plates and setting them down next to the hot food. "They won't be able to look into your files from Hames, even if he does speak up about everything,"

"You didn't have to do that," Grace sighed. "You guys have enough to deal with."

"Looking out for you isn't a chore for either of us, Grace," Pepper smiled softly.

Grace could hear footsteps approaching from the workshop and she knew it would be Tony before even looking. He looked tired, but happier than usual. Tony was sure he would never get over how grateful he was feeling about having Grace here alive and well. He didn't care what the press said about him or what they speculated, as long as his daughter was here and safe.

"Did you get some more sleep?" he asked, gently putting his hand on Grace's shoulder.

"Yeah," she lied, giving him a small smile. "Did you? I'm sorry I made you lay on the floor."

"I've slept in worse places, trust me," he chuckled. "Eat."

And Grace did, happily.

They all moved from the kitchen to the living room with their plates piled full of Italian food, switching the television to sitcoms and sitting quietly together to eat. It was nice, it was normal, and Grace wished it could always be like this. Maybe it could be from now on.

Hames was Grace's biggest fear from her past, and now that Tony knew all about it and he was behind bars, Grace had nothing to worry about, really. She hoped.

"How are you feeling?" Pepper asked, pushing her plate away as she looked to Grace. "I still have the painkillers the doctor gave you if you need any,"

"I'm okay," Grace nodded, swallowing a mouthful of pasta. "It's just swollen and stings every now and then,"

"Why don't you take one before you go to bed tonight, they might make sleeping a bit easier if it's keeping you up," he offered, gesturing to her cheek.

"Maybe," she sighed. "I'm so full."

"Hey, we've still got gelato," he reminded.

There was a beat of silence among the three of them as they finished their meal, and Grace finally gained the courage to address her own guilt.

"I just want to say sorry to both of you," she begun. "For everything."

"Grace, you don't need-"

"Just...please let me," she shook her head. "I know this isn't an excuse, but I'm not used to having people who are going to be there for me through anything. I was scared of you finding out about Hames, and instead of just talking to you about it, I left town without telling you and caused more trouble than it was worth, I appreciate everything you guys do for me and I'm...I know it's taking a while, but I am getting used to the fact that this is forever. That you guys are going to help me no matter what, and I'm never going to keep something like that from you again."

Tony and Pepper watched her closely, a soft smile on their lips.

"You guys are my family, and I've never...I've never had a real family before, and I really don't want to screw this up."

"Hey, you could never screw this up," Tony assured. "You could set this house on fire, crash one of my cars, break every piece of tech I own and run my company into the ground and you will still be my daughter and part of this family. Me and Pepper are here for you through anything, okay? Always."

Grace could feel her eyes welling up. So instead of saying anything in return, she just nodded her head and looked back down at her plate, avoiding any eye contact. Pepper and Tony exchanged a look full of love, glancing back toward the teenager with adoration.

"Gelato?"

* * *

The lawyer sat by Grace's side, making sure everything the police asked her was relevant and appropriate. The teenager took long pauses between her answers, thinking back to the incidents in question, reliving her childhood trauma over and over again. Tony sat by her side as well, biting down on his lip hard enough to draw blood as he listened to what his daughter had gone through.

Most of the information regarding Hames had already been sealed away in those files, but Grace wanted to make sure they had everything on that man and his wife. She wanted to make sure they never had the chance to hurt her or another person again. She had buried their secrets for long enough.

"Okay, just a few more questions Grace, and then we're done," the officer explained.

Grace took a deep breath and nodded in agreement. Tony reached over and offered his hand, not wanting to startle her, and it only took a second before Grace slipped her hand into his and squeezed. Tony ran his thumb over hers, trying to soothe her in whatever way he could right now.

They had arrived at the police station without a single paparazzi or journalist getting wind of their visit, thanks to Pepper and Happy's thought-out plan. They would be taking the car around the city right now, distracting the media who were like vultures to a corpse at the moment. They wanted answers to questions they had no right to answer, just as they always did. All the public really knew right now was that Hames and his wife were arrested and that Grace was somehow involved, but Tony and Pepper were making sure no one got close enough to the truth.

When they were finished, they were escorted out back where Tony had parked one of his older, less-known cars. One that could fit right into the Malibu traffic without a second glance. He made sure Grace got in first before he moved around to the driver's seat, taking a moment before starting the engine.

"How do you feel?" he asked.

Grace gave a slight nod, feeling her lips begin to tremble. It was all out there now.

"Hey, hey," Tony sighed, leaning over to pull her into his arms. "You're okay. I am so proud of you,"

Grace hugged him in return, pulling him close and burying her head into his neck. She had never felt safer.

Their drive back home was spent mostly in silence, listening to the dull barely-audible hum of the radio, staring out at all of the cars and people going about their day. Grace could see herself in the reflection of her window, spotting the fading black eye and the purple jaw. She pulled her hair over her shoulders and leaned further against the door, trying to hide from herself. She wanted to forget about all of this, but she knew that wasn't going to happen.

Even if she was taking the rest of the week off school, she wasn't treating it as a vacation. They were heading to New York as soon as they got home, checking the newest developments of the Stark Tower. It was almost fully functional now. Their floor was ready to live in, although they weren't planning to live there just yet, not with Grace just beginning school. But they were lucky enough to be able to travel back and forth as they pleased, and Grace was excited to visit once again.

Pepper reminded them of their departure time as soon as they arrived home, so Grace rushed up to her room to grab the bag she had packed for their stay. Tony had begun bickering around needing another coffee before they left and Pepper assured him she had one waiting in the car where Happy was ready to go.

"Got your homework?" Tony asked as Grace made it back downstairs.

She suppressed a groan at the reminder. Tony and Pepper and been in close communication with her school since the incident, not only to question the security but to explain the situation discretely. Tony had assured the principal that Grace would be back next week and even requested all of her work so she didn't need to catch up next week. The last thing they wanted was for Grace to be at a standstill because of this when she was just getting into a normal routine with school.

"Yes," she sighed. "And all three assignments."

Tony grinned.

"Don't sound so happy about it."

"You're still gonna help me with my chemistry work, right?"

Tony was more excited about that than he should have been.

"Of course,"

Pepper smiled between the two of them before she shooed them out the door, following closely behind. Happy had the car running and it didn't take long to reach the jet on the private runway. Grace was finding plane rides to be rather exciting, even if this was only the second trip she taken in one. She had to keep reminding herself that Tony's jet was not a normal plane. This was not a normal mode of transport.

Grace threw herself down into one of the large lounge chairs, dropping the pile of textbooks and papers by her side. They were going to shop for school supplies again tomorrow in the city, gathering all of the necessities Grace had lost in her backpack. They also needed to buy a new cell phone. Grace hadn't thought about the financial fallout of this incident, but it was certainly adding up. Not that money was a problem, but Grace was used to adding up everything and stressing about the costs.

Tony, on the other hand, merely shrugged at the idea of purchasing a new cell phone and supplies for his daughter. Compared to everything else he spent his money on, this was actually worthwhile and necessary.

"All set?" Tony asked, looking over from his comfortable seat beside Pepper.

"All set."

* * *

 **Thanks for continuing to read! Please leave a review with any thoughts.**


	15. Chapter 15

**2 MONTHS LATER**

"Does he ever take a break?" Tyler asked, looking over from their table in the park to the man standing next to the sleek, black car.

Grace followed his gaze to Happy, staring back dutifully with a small nod of acknowledgement. That had been part of Tony's deal with his daughter, and one that Grace really couldn't blame him for bringing up. She could go with her friends after school most days, spending her evenings like any normal teenager would, but Happy would always be close by.

"He doesn't like taking breaks," Grace sighed.

"Do you think he'd want to come eat with us?" Summer suggested, also staring over at the man.

"No, he doesn't like distractions," Grace explained. "Trust me, I've asked, he's happier to just keep his distance and do his job,"

"Does anyone else feel like they're hanging out with the President's daughter or something?" Tyler asked, looking between the small group. "Happy gives me some CIA vibes."

"I'm used to him now," Georgia shrugged. "I mean, at first he kinda creeped me out with how he just stands there watching, but now it's like...I mean, I know no one is coming after me and I'm not related to anyone famous at all, but like, I feel protected, you know?"

Grace smiled.

"Well I'm glad we all got over the awkward phase at the start," she laughed. "I don't think it's gonna be for the rest of my life, but I can't be sure,"

"If I were Tony, I'd be doing the same thing," Summer shrugged. "He's not only one of the most famous men in the world, but he's Iron Man. That's bound to bring in enemies."

And Summer was right. Tony had enemies, plenty of them, who wanted to hurt him. And Grace had her own too, even if they were currently wasting away in a jail cell. But even with Happy nearby, even with the constant reminder of how different her life, Grace had never felt so normal.

She had friends, she was getting better grades at school, and she finally felt like she had a home that would last forever.

Tony and Pepper were growing busier by the day it seemed, but they always made time to put everything down and be a family at the end of the day. They had dinner together each night, Tony helped Grace with her homework every evening and they had fallen into a comfortable, happy routine.

"Okay, so you get the equation?" Tony asked, pointing to the numbers and symbols all over Grace's page.

"I think so," Grace mumbled, biting her lip.

Tony paused fora moment, allowing her to think to herself and calculate.

"So the answer is..." he trailed off, prompting.

Grace picked up her pencil, muttering to herself as she scribbled out a long line. Tony smiled as he watched on, knowing she was heading toward the correct answer. When she finished, she pulled the pencil up to chew on nervously as Tony peered over to check the work.

"Now you're just showing off," he shook his head.

"It's right?" Grace asked, her lips pulling up into an excited grin.

"It's perfect," Tony nodded. "You know chemistry is like math, it's all about equations,"

"Math is a lot easier than chemistry," Grace scoffed. "I don't understand atoms and electrons,"

"But you do, you just did it!" he encouraged. "You give yourself such a hard time, you've convinced yourself you can't do it,"

"Did you not see my grades from last year?" she asked. "Chemistry was barely a pass for me,"

"I did see that, and I also that your attendance was barely a pass, too." Tony reminded.

Grace frowned, letting out a small sigh.

"I did warn you that I wasn't an angel," she defended.

"I was far from an angel myself, trust me," Tony assured.

"At least you had brains,"

Tony reached over, putting his hand on Grace's shoulder.

"Hey, stop. You're so much smarter than you give yourself credit for."

"You know, when I first started my classes, every teacher thought I'd be just like you. The whole world thinks I'm just like you. A genius. And I'm not, and I know that, and I'm not mad about that because I don't want to build robots or create algorithms. I have no idea what I want to do or who I want to be."

"That's how it should be. You're 15, you're not supposed to know. You can be 30 and still not know, and that's fine. Grace, when I was your age, my father was building his company with every intention of handing it down to me. It was expected of me to follow in his footsteps. I didn't get to have that part of my childhood where I thought about what I wanted to do or what I wanted to be. There was no other option for me. And that's the last thing I want for you. I want you to do whatever you want, I don't care how unrealistic or insane it is."

Grace smiled, nervously tapping her pencil against the book.

"I just want...I want you to..." she trailed off, shaking her head. "I want you to be proud of me."

Tony's heart melted.

"Kid, I'm proud of you every single day."

* * *

Tony walked over to Pepper, handing her a cup of coffee and gripping his own as he sat down by her side. They were two hours out from New York and Pepper had finally put her phone down to rest. Stark Tower was now complete. Well, almost. Tony had his own touch-ups he wanted to add and a few adjustments to make before they would be satisfied. But they were spending the weekend in the city, finishing it off in between spending some much-needed time together as their little family.

Pepper looked over to Grace, sprawled out on her seat by the window, math homework scattered all over the place. The teenager had a pen gripped in her hand as it hung limply by her side, fast asleep despite the loud music raging from her headphones.

"How is she asleep? I can hear her music from here," Pepper chuckled.

"Nothing gets in the way of that kid's sleep," Tony shook his head, amused.

"Well, we both know she gets her preferred level of music from her father,"

"If it doesn't hurt the eardrums a little, it's too low," Tony shrugged, agreeing. "We're heading straight to the tower, aren't we?"

"You can. Me and Grace are going shopping first,"

"School stuff?"

"No, clothes,"

"I can come," Tony offered.

"No, you can go start whatever adjustments you need at the tower," she shook her head.

"Pepper, I don't mind clothes shopping. I want to do that stuff for her."

Taking a deep breath, Pepper looked at him with a small grin.

"Trust me, this is a girl's shopping trip,"

"Strictly girls only, huh?"

"Tony, no teenage girl wants to buy bras with their father," Pepper sighed. "Grace is fifteen. It's a touchy age. She doesn't need you acting awkward when she needs to buy new underwear or-"

"Okay, okay, okay," Tony held his hands up. "I get it. Girl's trip, loud and clear."

Pepper leaned over and pressed a soft kiss to his lips, assuring him everything was okay.

"And believe it or not, I actually enjoy some time off work," she added. "And I enjoy spending time with her."

Tony grinned, playing with Pepper's fingers that now rested in his hands.

"You know she's crazy about you, right?" Tony asked. "Every time you're out, she asks me where you are, what you're doing, how you do it and, on more than one occasion, if you know how badass you are."

Pepper laughed, shaking her head as she looked over at the still-asleep teenager. Grace had been with them for several months now and it was nearly impossible to think of life before her. She made their home a real home. She made them a family. And without even knowing it, she had brought Pepper and Tony closer together than they realised.

"I thought our lives were getting back on track after last year, that we were finally where we were meant to be," Pepper began. "But this is where we're meant to be. Right now, with Grace."

Tony smiled harder than he had in a long time. He couldn't hold it back at all.

"Where we're meant to be," he nodded in agreement. "Together."

* * *

Grace sat by Tony's side as he worked away at the tall desk, her legs dangling from the chair lazily as she dug out another mouthful of ice-cream from the pint in her lap. Both Tony and Pepper had been working over the whole weekend to finalise the last fixtures to the tower, and Grace had been observing all of it without really understanding any of it. All she really gathered was it was a big deal, it meant a lot to Tony and Pepper to do this together, and it was finally finished.

The first of money, apparently. Pepper had been lining up meetings all day about the zoning for future building running on the same kind of energy, and Tony had been completely engaged in his work. Normally, Grace didn't see Tony like this. Whenever was deep into his work, he was in the shop downstairs, and whenever Grace paid him a visit, he made sure his attention was on her instead of getting too lost in his work. But it had been nice to sit together like this for the evening, working away in silence, watching on peacefully.

"Is it done?" Grace asked, licking the back of her spoon.

Honestly, Tony was surprised she made it halfway through the pint of ice-cream after their pizza for lunch. But teenagers apparently defy all odds when it comes to appetite.

"Just about," Tony gave a nod, a small grin on his lips. "Just need to connect the reactor to the pipeline transition lines, get us off the grid,"

"Where's the transition line?"

"Underwater," he sighed. "So I'll have to head out for a bit,"

Grace gave her father an odd look, turning to the large floor-to-ceiling windows.

"But it's dark out," she explained. "The sun's almost completely gone."

"I'm not going scuba diving," Tony chuckled. "I'll take the suit."

Grace took a moment before letting out a small chuckle and shaking her head. It was so easy for her to forget about Iron Man. No matter how many times Tony responded to emergency call-outs at all hours of the day and night, no matter how many times she sat by his side as he worked away on repairs and upgrades, it still managed to slip her mind.

"How far underwater?" she asked curiously. "Can that thing even stay underwater long?"

"That thing can," Tony laughed, shaking his head. "I built it to withstand high pressures,"

"But, like, how far underwater?" she probed, digging into her ice cream once again.

"Far enough," he shrugged. "I don't really take it for underwater visits often,"

"Well what if something happens and you're way, way down?"

"It won't," he assured.

"But what if it does?"

"Then Jarvis will get me out,"

"And if Jarvis doesn't work?"

Tony looked to her with a sigh, shaking his head slightly in amusement.

"Is this what it's like to have an overly-curious toddler?"

Grace rolled her eyes, laughing as she swallowed down another mouthful of sugary ice cream.

"No, but this is what it's like when your kid has Iron Man for a father," she pointed out. "But what if something happens?"

"Nothing's gonna happen," he soothed with a smile. "I'll be underwater for five minutes, top. Cut into the lines, connect the reactor, and I'll be right back."

Grace sighed and gave a nod of understanding. It was dawning on Tony all over again that Grace did worry about him. She worried, just like Pepper, every single time he went out in the suit. Every single time they weren't sure if he was going to come back in one piece, or at all. Even from something as small as this.

"I'll be talking to you the whole time," he added, nudging her playfully.

"Yeah?" she asked, an excited grin on her lips.

"Yeah, I need someone to tell me if it's working," he nodded. "It should come up here when I connect the reactor,"

Tony pointed to the hologram screen before them, showing Grace what she was to look for. He wanted to include her in all of this, despite the fact she had only joined them during the tail-end of the building's completion. This was over a year's work for Tony and Pepper, but having Grace with them for the final stage had meant the world to them. This was their first joint project, and it was fitting to have Grace here for that.

A few moments passed before Pepper finally joined them, taking a deep breath and stretching out her arms as she padded into the room from the elevator. She was dressed in a plain white button up shirt and a pair of denim shorts, looking completely relaxed and ready to celebrate the end of their creation.

"I'm turning my phone off for a few hours," she declared, moving to stand behind Tony, her hands resting on his shoulders.

"Good, you should turn it off forever," he smirked, turning to press a kiss to the hand closest to his lips.

"And watch the company fall to pieces? I think a few hours is enough," she laughed, turning to the teenager. "How's the homework going?"

Grace pushed the now empty pint of ice cream away, sifting through the pile of papers by her side.

"All done," she grinned. "Well, mostly."

"You look like you're in for quite a tummy ache," Pepper worried.

"It takes more than a pint of ice cream to give me a tummy ache," Grace laughed. "So when can we do the whole 'light up the tower' thing?"

Tony chuckled, turning in his seat to look up at Pepper.

"How about it, Ms Potts?"

Pepper smiled back at him, folding her arms.

"I'll get the champagne ready. That's if it's a success,"

"Three glasses?" Grace winked, sliding down from where she sat on top of the desk.

"Nice try," Tony smirked. "How about three glasses and but one's with soda?"

"I can arrange that," Pepper chuckled.

"Where's the fun in that? It's a celebration," Grace argued, giving up immediately once she saw Tony headed toward the assembly station. "Oh, can I come out?"

Tony turned back to the teenager, looking at her eager eyes and then back at the landing dock outside where he would fly out.

"I'd rather you didn't step out onto the completely fenceless and open surface when we're ninety stories high,"

Grace gave him a frown, folding her arms as she continued to follow behind her father.

"Can I have any fun?"

Tony let out a bark of laughter.

"I'm sorry you're feeling so oppressed by my rules, oh child of mine," Tony chuckled, throwing his arms around dramatically. "Not allowed champagne, not allowed to risk falling from a roof, how unreasonable of me."

"I just wanna help," Grace huffed. "Well, not help because there's nothing I can actually do, but I just..."

"Honey, you just being here is enough for us," Pepper insisted. "We've been working on this for a long time, but having you here just makes it perfect now."

Grace couldn't help the grin that took over as she leaned in to Pepper's embrace, the woman's arms snaking around her and holding her tight as they watched Tony walk up unto the assembly dock. It was a sight that Tony would never tire of seeing.

They stood and watched as Tony took off into the night sky in his suit, a trail of light following behind him before he faded from their vision. But soon enough his voice filtered into the room, clear as day, as he let them know how far off he was. It would only take a few minutes, hopefully, and then he would be flying back to celebrate.

"Can you see down there?" Grace asked, moving to take Tony's seat at his desk.

"With some light, sure," Tony explained, a smile evident in his voice at her curiosity. "It's darker down here than up there,"

"Sharks?"

"I don't think I'm what they're looking for for dinner,"

"Do you have to ask someone before you do that?"

"Probably,"

"Will they find out?"

"Most likely. Might them a little while before they figure that one out though,"

"You won't get in trouble?"

"Well, when they see what I'm using it for, I think they'll have better things to focus on," Tony explained. "Almost done here. You ready to push that button?"

Grace's eyes lit up.

"I get to push it?" she asked, turning to Pepper. "No, no you should do it,"

"I'd love it if you pushed it," Pepper shook her head.

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely," Pepper grinned, pressing a soft kiss to the top of Grace's head as she stood behind her.

The teen stared ahead at the system in front of her, preparing herself.

"Good on this end," Tony announced. "Rest is up to you."

"We off the grid?" Pepper asked.

"Stark Tower is about to become a beacon in self-sustaining clean energy," Tony answered, soaring up into the night sky to head back to meet his family.

"If the reactor takes over and actually works?" Pepper bit back, a grin on her lips.

"I assume," Tony chuckled. "Light her up,"

Grace excitedly reached out, turning on the power systems of the tower and effectively switching over to the clean-energy Tony and Pepper had been working on. This was everything they had worked towards. Here and now, all together, at the end of their first journey.

"How does it look?" Pepper asked, following behind Grace as they moved over to the windows.

"Like Christmas, but with more me," Tony grinned.

"Gotta go wider on the public awareness," Pepper sighed. "You need to do some press. I can so some more tomorrow. I'm working on the zoning for the next billbo-"

"Pepper, you're killing me," Tony cut her off. "Let's just have the moment, you know? Enjoy it."

"Get back here and we can,"

Tony smiled to himself as he flew closer to the tower, 'Stark' glowing high in the sky, to see Pepper and Grace waiting eagerly inside. He couldn't have asked for more. Things were going so well in his life right now, finally, after so long. Grace was happy, Pepper was happy, and that was all Tony ever cared about anymore.

But his life never stayed perfect for long.

"Sir, Agent Coulson of SHIELD is on the line," Jarvis informed as Tony walked along the landing pad, taking off the suit.

"I'm not in," Tony sighed, already feeling that headache brewing. "I'm actually out."

"I'm afraid he's insisting," the A.I continued.

"I'm booked for the evening,"

Pepper was looking over the holo information as Tony walked over, watching her study the numbers.

"Levels are holding steady, I think," she hummed.

"Of course they are, I was directly involved," Tony shrugged. "Nice work lighting it up, Grace."

"It was just a button," the teen shrugged. "But it was actually super cool to watch the tower light up like that,"

"It was super cool to see from out there,"

"Well, I wouldn't know, being stuck in here and all," Grace joked.

"I will actually have a heart attack if you make me think about you being out there," Tony warned, moving over to wrap an arm around her shoulders and pull her to his side.

"I could do it," she fought.

"I know you could, that's what's so terrifying," he laughed. "So, champagne and soda?"

Grace threw herself down on the couch in the middle of the room, sprawling out to dangle her head off the side to look out the window, upside down. It was still beautiful, no matter what angle she looked out at the sky. She would never get sick of the view.

There were in the middle of deciding on dinner when Jarvis interrupted.

"Sir, the telephone. I'm afraid my protocols are being overwritten,"

Grace sat up, worried, looking over to Tony and Pepper.

"Stark, we need to talk," came a voice.

But Tony didn't seem worried.

"You have reached the life model decoy of Tony Stark," he teased. "Please leave a message."

"It's urgent."

"Then leave it urgently."

But before another word could break through, the elevator doors sprung open, revealing a man in a sleek black suit. He didn't look threatening at all, in fact there was a small smile on his lips, but Grace still panicked.

"Security breach," Tony called out, but once again, was not worried.

He looked over to Grace with a small shake of his head, letting her know everything was okay. But it didn't feel okay. Grace pulled herself up on the couch, bringing her knees up to her chest and hugging them close as she watched the man move into the room.

"Mr. Stark," the man addressed.

"Phil!" Pepper welcomed with a smile.

"Phil?" Tony asked, standing up by Pepper's side. "His first name is Agent."

"We need you to look this over," Phil announced, handing over a file.

Tony looked at it, pulling a face.

"I don't like being handed things,"

"Which is fine because I love being handed things," Pepper broke in.

Tony watched as Pepper took the file from him and pressed it against Tony's chest for him to take.

"Official consulting hours are between eight and five every other Thursday,"

"This isn't a consultation," Phil shook his head, turning to look over at Grace. "Hi."

Grace moved her hand slightly, waving back awkwardly as she looked to Pepper.

"Phil, this is Grace," Pepper introduced. "Don't worry, he's one of the good guys."

Another nod, and then the room was back to confusion.

"Is this about the Avengers?" Pepper asked, cutting herself off. "Which I...I know nothing about."

"The Avengers initiative was scrapped," Tony announced, walking over to his desk. "I thought. And I didn't even qualify."

"I didn't know that," Pepper continued.

"Apparently I'm volatile, self-obsessed, don't play well with others,"

"That I did know," Pepper grinned.

"This isn't about personality profiles anymore," Phil explained.

Grace didn't know what to do right now. There was as strange man standing in the middle of the room, right by the empty pint of ice-cream she had finished off, right by where she had been standing moments before. He was here, like he was a friend. Pepper seemed happy to see him. Tony seemed worried. And Grace was beyond confused.

Pepper moved over to Tony's side a moment later, and that left Phil to turn back to Grace with another smile. One that Grace recognised too well. The smile of someone who thought they needed to fill the silence.

"So, how's school?" he asked.

Grace held back her groan.

"School is...fine," she nodded slowly. "How's...wearing a suit?"

Phil grinned.

"Fine."

Glancing over at Pepper and Tony, Grace noticed his screen was now covered in videos of various disasters around the world. A video of a green man, a soldier, explosions. Something was wrong. Very wrong. The look on Tony's face confirmed that a moment later, and when Pepper began whispering to him, Grace knew there was reason to panic.

Then their eyes were on her. A few more whispered were exchanged before Tony gestured her over to join them. Grace pulled herself up from the couch and hurried past the man, her whole body tense with worry.

"What's going on?" she asked, folding her arms across her chest.

"You're going to go with Pepper tonight to D.C, okay?" Tony explained. "There's...something I have to take a look at."

Grace looked at the images again, then back to her father.

"What's happening?"

"I'm not sure yet," he sighed. "But I think they need my help."

"Is it bad?"

"It might be,"

"Just you?"

"No, it won't be just me," he assured.

Grace looked to Pepper now.

"Why do we have to go?"

"Just to be safe," she explained. "There's a lot here that Tony has to do, and we're not going to be much help with it, and he probably has to be out all the time anyway. You've never been to D.C, have you? You'll love it, I promise."

"You'll have a much better time with Pepper, trust me," Tony continued.

"But I wanted to stay here with you guys," Grace complained softly, looking over to Phil and then back. "Who is he?"

"He's works for an organisation that protects people," Tony explained. "They're the ones who need my help,"

"Is it dangerous?" she asked.

Tony sighed, looking over to the agent who simply turned his back to give them some privacy, looking around at the walls. Tony put his hands on Grace's shoulders, looking at her closely, wishing they didn't have to separate like this.

"I wanted to spend the whole weekend here with you guys too," he told her. "I promise we'll be back here soon, okay? I've just gotta look over a few things for these guys."

Grace thought for a moment, knowing she was acting quite selfish right now. She wanted Tony to herself, with her and Pepper, to enjoy this moment together. To finally be in the tower that they had worked on and live like a normal family for the weekend or even just the night. They all deserved this break together. If it wasn't Tony working, it was Pepper. And when they were both free, Grace was at school. This was their time, and once again, their life had been interrupted.

"Okay," Grace gave a sad nod, leaning forward into Tony's chest as he squeezed her tight in a hug. "Will you meet us in D.C?"

"I'll pick you guys up myself," he assured.

"When?"

"I don't know kiddo," Tony told her honestly. "I'll try to make it fast."

"No," Grace shook her head. "Don't rush, you have to be careful,"

Pepper smiled to herself at Grace's obvious concern for her father's safety. Now the man had two people reminding him of how important it was that he keep himself safe and alive.

"I'm always careful."

As Grace hugged closer to her father, Tony pulled Pepper in to join them for one final embrace. They would be together again in a few days. Maybe even tomorrow. This was just a bit of SHIELD business.

That's what Tony kept telling himself, anyway.


	16. Chapter 16

Grace spun around with a sigh, looking around the room at the window that flashed before her eyes with each rotation. She began to kick her feet faster, feeling her stomach churn in discomfort as she made herself dizzy. Pepper had a lot of offices around the country and around the world, although she only had one main office at the headquarters, which meant they all looked rather similar. Modern, glass floor-to-ceiling windows everywhere, and absolutely spotless. This one didn't have too much in it at all. Just a few stacks of papers, a computer, some books and bunch of pens. The essentials.

They had only been in D.C for day after arriving late the night before, and although Grace had been taking in the sights and getting excited about her afternoon with Pepper once the meetings had finished, she couldn't help wanting to be back in New York with Tony. They were just about to start this new adventure together, the three of them, and it had ended so abruptly. Tony had that worried look on his face. The serious worried look. And no matter how many times both he and Pepper assured her that everything was fine, Grace knew something bigger was going on.

"You hungry?"

Grace turned to the man by the door, using her foot to kick out at the desk to slow down.

"Not really," she mumbled, watching as Happy moved into the room. "Where's Pepper?"

"The meeting's running a little long," he explained, taking a seat across from the teenager, watching her pick up the pace of her spinning once again. "Aren't you getting dizzy?"

"Kinda," she admit. "Have you heard from Tony?"

That was something Grace had been asking over and over again since arriving in D.C the night before. It wasn't like Tony to go too long without checking in. A few hours maybe, but not overnight. Grace knew they were all keeping her in the dark with what was going on, at least partially, and it was beginning to frustrate her that she couldn't speak to her father. She just wanted to know if he was okay.

"No I haven't," Happy told her honestly. "Which usually means he's busy, and if he's with SHIELD, he probably has his hands full."

Pepper had explained SHIELD to Grace on their flight, in the most basic terms, to help her understand the organisation. Tony was one of their advisors and part of a team set up to work on defence and protection. But they had never called in him until now. They had never spoken of that 'team' again, but now it was suddenly an emergency.

"Is something bad happening?" she asked, once again slowing down to look over the man, watching his reaction.

Happy took a moment to think. He didn't want to lie to Grace, but he wasn't sure of the truth himself. And the last thing he wanted to do was upset or worry her, but he knew that she was already panicking, just as Pepper was.

"All I know is that if they called in your dad, then it's probably serious," he explained. "SHIELD don't like to ask for help very often, they can usually take care of everything the world throws at them."

Grace gave a nod of understanding.

"Is Pepper worried?"

"I've never known Pepper to not worry about Tony," Happy sighed. "But when it comes to this kind of stuff, she worries a little more."

There was a beat of silence between the two as they sat mulling over the could possibly be happening with SHIELD. Happy wondered if he should have been so candid with Grace, but he knew that if he had those sort of questions, he would want them answered honestly as well.

"Look, your dad knows what he's doing, as surprising as that sounds coming from me-"

Happy's voice was cut off by the device in his top pocket, beeping away. Then another alert from a different device. Grace watched his face focus on the screen before his mouth fell open slightly, checking the next alert.

"I'll be right back," he assured, making his way to the door.

"Happy!" Grace called after him, beginning to run over to the door to follow.

But instead, she was stopped by her own cell vibrating in her pocket. It was a message from Lewis.

Omg did u see this? are u there? whats going on?

Grace opened the message as fast as she could, scrolling through his constant stream of texts before finally arriving at the video link.

It was Tony, in his suit, standing in front of a black-haired man in a gold helmet. There was a huge crowd around them, all on their knees or running. It was chaos. People were screaming and crying and injured and running wild. There was a man beside Tony, dressed in a blue, white and red suit. Captain America. The man they found in the ice last year.

Iron Man and Captain America in front of a maniac.

"Holy shit..."

* * *

Pepper's phone had been ringing all afternoon, non-stop. Calls from media, from Stark Industries, from politicians, from Iron Man fanatics wanting answers. What was going on in Germany? Why was Iron Man there and why was Captain America by his side? All questions that Pepper couldn't answer even if she wanted to.

"This is a nightmare," Pepper huffed, turning her phone off and throwing it into the depths of her bag.

Grace sat by the woman's side in the back of the car as Happy drove them to a new, more secure hotel. The press was going crazy over the footage from Stuttgart, and everybody wanted answers.

"Can we just go home?" Grace asked, looking to her nervously.

Pepper sighed, reaching over to take Grace's hand in her own.

"I know this is all so overwhelming," she began. "And I know as much as you do about all of this. I have no idea what's going on, but I do know that Tony would want us both far away from it. Whatever's going on...it could be dangerous. Going home might not be our best option."

Grace could feel her stomach twisting with worry.

"What if he gets hurt?"

"Every time he goes out in that suit, I thin the same thing," Pepper explained. "But every time, he comes right back. And he'll always come back to you, okay? You're the most important thing in the world to him."

Grace could feel herself getting worked up, but there was no stopping it.

"I just...I n-never think of him as Iron Man, you know? I forget that he's that person. I forget he does all of this stuff and it's so dangerous and all I see him as da-" she paused, cutting herself off. "I just see him as Tony, you know?"

Pepper smiled at Grace's words. She had never called Tony 'dad'. She had referred to him as 'my father' a few times, but she had never made the leap. It felt too personal, in a very odd way. Of course it was personal, Tony was her dad. Her biological father. She had every right to call him dad, to make that leap. But never in her life had she been able to do that, and she never thought she would be able to.

"I know," Pepper gave a nod, squeezing Grace's hand. "Sometimes I forget he's all of that too. But we get the Tony that no one else in the whole world gets to see. We get the real Tony, you know that? But the man out there, Iron Man, that's just another version of Tony. And no matter what version of himself he is, he's thinking ten steps ahead of everyone else. He's smart and he's determined and nothing gets in his way. He'll come home from this, too."

Grace leaned in to Pepper's side, letting her head fall against her shoulder. Pepper wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pressing a soft kiss to her temple.

"I know he's been out on missions and stuff since I've been around, but this...it just feels different," she admit. "I'm...I'm scared."

"It's okay to be scared, I am too," Pepper sighed, brushing the teen's hair from her face. "All we can do is keep ourselves safe and wait it out."

* * *

Tony had been staring at his phone for almost an hour as he sat in front of the computer screens on the Helicarrier, waiting for some answers. This whole situation had become so much more than Tony was ever expecting. There was so much at stake, so many threats he hadn't been anticipating, and he was still doing his best to understand it all. There were Gods from above, and one was trying to tear the world apart before they got to him.

But now they were all aboard this floating headquarters, trying to work together despite knowing very little about one another, and that didn't sit well with Tony. He already had his own trust issues with Nick Fury and SHIELD in general, but this had all amplified it so much. The Tesseract was not supposed to be in their hands, and that's exactly where it had been stolen from. And now they had this glowing Scepter that held power they were still trying to understand.

It was all too much, and Tony was growing more and more frustrated by the second. All he wanted was to be back at the tower with Grace and Pepper. Or, better yet, back at home in Malibu. Preferably with pizza, lots of blankets, hot chocolate and a movie marathon. He chuckled to himself as he thought about that. Even a year ago, that wouldn't have sounded appealing to Tony at all. But with Grace, all he wanted was that family time.

"Anything?"

Tony turned to meet the gaze of Bruce Banner, shaking his head with a huff.

"Jarvis is still sweeping," he answered.

Bruce watched him silently, noticing his eyes flickering to the cell phone over and over again.

"Waiting for a call?" he asked.

"Thinking about making one, actually," he sighed.

"Well, you've certainly got plenty of time to do that," Bruce grinned. "This is taking longer than I thought."

"Jarvis will alert me and you when something comes up," he nodded, moving to stand and head toward the door.

Tony looked around the hall as he continued walking, avoiding eye contact with anyone who looked as though they wanted to talk to him. Natasha, Steve and Thor were nowhere to be seen as he made his way to the empty holding room at the end of the corridor. Loki was taking up everyones interest anyway, which meant Tony didn't really have to deal with any 'team bonding' for at least a few hours.

When he stepped into some privacy, Tony debated calling once again. The last thing he wanted to do was worry his family, and right now he didn't have answers to give them that wouldn't do just that. 'An alien army is apparently on it's way from space, but everything is totally okay, I'll be home for dinner' didn't seem like the greatest line.

So instead of thinking, he just called. He was sure that as soon as he heard their voices, he wouldn't feel so anxious. And he was right.

"Hello? Tony?" Pepper's voice answered.

"Yeah, it's me," he sighed, taking a moment to relish in the sound of her voice. "Sorry I haven't checked in,"

"What's going on?"

"I don't even know where to start, Pep."

There was a pause on the other line.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm okay,"

"Everyone saw the footage from Germany. Is that...did SHIELD bring in the Avengers?"

"Seems that way. I don't think it's anyone's first choice, though. We're just...we're just trying to get through one crazy at a time here."

"Where's here? Are you still in Germany?"

"No, but I don't think you want to know where," he sighed. "I don't even want to know. But it's gonna be okay. We're all working on it. I just don't know how long it's going to take,"

"Grace hasn't stopped asking about you."

Tony's heart ached at the thought.

"Is she around?"

"I can get her," Pepper assured. "Just be safe Tony, okay?"

"Always," he soothed.

It took a few moments before Tony could hear Grace's soft voice in the room, his face lighting up at the sound.

"Hello?"

"Hey kid, how you doing?" he asked with a smile.

"Well there's no helmet-head freaks here right now, so not bad," she replied.

Tony smirked at her wit.

"Saw the video, huh?"

"Just me and everyone else in the world," she laughed. "Where are you?"

"Not where I wanna be, trust me," he sighed.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, believe me, it's not as exciting as it looks," he told her softly. "Are you?"

"I'm okay,"

"Yeah?"

"I'm worried," she admit. "I guess...a little scared."

Tony wished he could hug her right now.

"You don't have to be scared, I promise. You stay with Pepper and Happy, and I-"

"I'm not scared for me, I'm scared for you," she corrected. "It looks really bad."

Tony paused for a moment, letting out a long sigh.

"Yeah, I know it looks bad," he admit, "But I'm not doing all this on my own, okay? There's a lot of people here, and everything gonna be fine,"

"When are you coming home?"

"I hope I won't be too long, but I don't know kiddo," he told her honestly.

"Are you scared?" she asked.

The innocence in her voice just about killed him.

"No, I'm okay," he told her. "Sometimes I get a little worried, but then I remember I'm a genius, right?"

Grace laughed, making Tony feel all warm and fuzzy and old and grateful all at once.

"Right," she agreed, trailing off into silence again. "You have to go, don't you?"

"Yeah, I do," he confirmed, sadly. "I'll try to call again when I get a chance,"

"Okay,"

"Okay, you guys just stay safe, okay? Order in some food, watch some movies I can be jealous about when you tell me all about it, yeah? I love you kiddo."


	17. Chapter 17

Grace had never felt so numb before. She couldn't feel her body, she couldn't feel the air around her, she couldn't feel anything at all. As she stared at the television before her, she couldn't feel a single thing. It was as if every feeling in her body was drained from her immediately, watching as Iron Man flew up into the wormhole above New York. The wormhole currently closing up, sealing two worlds from one another.

Tony wasn't coming back. He couldn't.

The only thing that jolted Grace's system back online was the buzzing of her cell at her side. Eyes wide, mouth parted in shock, she looked down at the phone slowly as if she was living in slow motion. It felt like she was underwater, drowning, and she was sure this was all a dream when she saw the name calling.

* * *

 _10 Years Earlier..._

Going to the park always sounded fun until they finally got there. Grace hated watching all of the other children playing with their parents, giggling wildly as they were held upside down and tossed around. They always seemed so much happier than Grace had ever been. They had their mommy and their daddy. They had everything Grace wanted.

"Do you think they get to stay up and watch movies with their mom and dad?" Lewis asked, sitting next to Grace in the grass.

"Uh huh," Grace mumbled. "We don' get to do that."

"They get their own room too, ya know?"

"Their _own_ room?" Grace gasped. "With princess beds?"

"And dinosaur beds too," Lewis whined. "I wish I had a dinosaur bed."

"I wish I had a princess bed," Grace huffed. "I wish I still had my mommy,"

"Don't you have a daddy?" Lewis asked innocently.

"Nuh uh," the little girl shook her head. "I don' have mommy no more and I don't know daddy."

"Oh," Lewis sighed. "Well my mommy and daddy got losted,"

"They lost?"

"Yeah," the little boy explained. "They said they can't find 'em,"

"Maybe they is looking for you," the five year old offered. "Is that why you stayin' with us? So they can find you?"

"I don't know," Lewis shrugged. "Maybe."

"I think so," Grace nodded. "Miss Mitchell said we all here to find our mommies and daddies,"

Lewis grinned at that, pulling out handful of grass and scattering it around them as they played.

"Do you think your daddy with find you?"

"Uh huh, he find me, 'cause I stay here and wait for 'im,"

"What are you gon' do when he find you?"

"I give him a big hug, and I'll tell him mommy's gone, and ask if he wants to take me to the park," Grace explained. "And then if I can have a princess bed,"

"I'm gonna ask my mommy and daddy for a dinosaur bed," Lewis grinned excitedly.

They went back to their silent playing for a few moments, looking around at the families nearby. Lewis and Grace were currently the youngest children at the home, which meant all the older children were off playing together on the monkey bars and kicking around a ball while the two littler children busied themselves with picking flowers and grass, observing everyone else. It was intimidating to be at the park with so many families when they didn't really have one of their own.

Grace looked over to the family once again, watching as the little boy was lifted up onto his father's shoulders as he laughed and giggled with glee.

"I hope he fin' me," Grace huffed.

* * *

His name kept flashing, over and over again, as the phone continued buzzing.

 _Tony_

He was calling her. Right now, right as he was inside that metal suit flying up into a whole other world, he was calling her.

Grace's hands felt like they were detached from her body as she reached out to grab the cell phone. Everything felt like pins and needles. Like television static running through every inch of her body.

Pepper's eyes moved from the screen towards Grace's movement, a slight gasp escaping her lips as she realized what was happening. The teen lifted the cell to her ear, silently answering the call.

"Grace?" Tony's voice filtered through.

"Don't," Grace pleaded softly. "Don't go,"

"Grace, I'm sorry, I've gotta get this nuke out-"

"Don't go!" she snapped, her eyes filling with tears. "Turn around!"

"Grace...please..."

"I need you to come back," she cried, finally letting the pressure in her chest out. "Come back! Please! Don't leave me, please don't go, please-"

"Grace-"

"Dad! Don't go!"

Tony's heart was beating faster than he ever thought possible. Faster than it was a mere second ago. _Dad_.

Grace was begging him to stay, begging him to turn around, as he continued flying toward the hole in the sky. The hole closing up, sealing his fate.

"I love you," his voice trailed off, his eyes falling closed as the oxygen lowered.

"Dad!" Grace screamed, falling to the floor as the call cut out.

The wormhole was closing, and Tony was on the other side. The nuke was gone, but so was her father. The news footage cut from the wormhole closing to the rest of the team on the ground, the countless monsters flying around nearby, the danger still looming.

Pepper couldn't feel her heart beating anymore. She couldn't feel anything. They were both numb, watching the person they loved most begin to fall back through the sky.

Tony was falling. The wormhole was close and he was falling. He wasn't flying. This wasn't Iron Man now. This was Tony Stark, inside a metal suit, falling from the sky.

"Pepper..." Grace whispered.

The woman grabbed Grace's hand, squeezing it tight, holding it close.

"Come on Tony," she sighed, pulling Grace into her arms. "Come on,"

* * *

Tony knew that he would never forget this day for a million reasons. He could already feel the trauma building from everything that had happened in the span of 48 hours. The wormhole closing around him, the heavy feeling on his chest as he lost consciousness while staring up at alien creatures flying by, the sound of Grace's voice begging him to turn around.

Since Iron Man, Tony knew he had a different approach to most things in his life. After what he witnessed when taken by the Ten Rings, when he had a car battery attached to his heart, everything in his life seemed to look a little different. He handled things differently, even though it was with the same careless thought, it was always for the better. He wanted to help people, not hurt them. He wanted to protect.

Iron Man changed Tony Stark. He was self-sacrificing and selfless to a fault. To many faults, actually. He wouldn't think twice about jumping in front of a bullet or an explosion or taking a nuclear bomb up through a wormhole in New York when he was aware of the one-way consequences. That's how his mind worked.

But Tony couldn't afford to be so selfless when he was now a father. He had someone who depended on him, who invested all their love and trust into him, and it caused a heartbreaking dilemma that Tony was sure he would never recover from.

Flying up into that wormhole, he thought about his daughter. Staring into the universe on the other side, terrified, he thought about his daughter.

The Avengers - this team that had so suddenly been thrown together - all had people they cared about. Some were far away, some weren't here at all, but each one of them had their driving motivation. They each had something personal to get them through. And now, standing together silently at the top of the Stark Tower which was in ruins, they had a moment to themselves.

"So, still...still up for that shawarma?" Tony suggesting, breaking through the silence.

Tony insisted on the team going ahead of him, wanting to make a call before he could really settle down into eating some food. His stomach had been in knots all day, but right now it was making him feel sicker than he thought possible. He tried calling Pepper, then he tried calling Grace, but there was no answer.

"You got a location for me Jarvis? Where are they?" Tony asked, moving to sit back against the rocky tiles that were stairs mere hours ago.

"I'm picking up a location for Mr. Hogan in Washington, sir."

"Put me through,"

It took a few moments, but soon enough Tony heard Happy's answering voice.

 _"Boss?"_

"Hap, where are they?"

 _"Boarding the jet, we're on our way to you,"_ Happy announced.

"Are the okay?"

 _"They're...shaken up,"_

Naturally.

"I tried calling,"

 _"Pepper has all her tech off, she's been flooded with calls all day,"_ the bodyguard explained. _"They want to see you. Getting into the city seems like a lost cause though."_

"Don't go into the city. I don't want...they don't need to see all this, not anymore than they've already had to."

"You got it boss. Send me an address and I'll get them there safely," Happy assured. "Hell of a scare you gave everyone. How are you holding up?"

Tony let out a long sigh, and that seemed to speak everything he needed to say to his longtime friend. Happy could tell just how tired Tony was just through his voice alone. Physically, emotionally, mentally - exhausted.

He was still staring at his cell by the time he made it to the shawarma restaurant. The owners were cleaning up and gathering what they could from the destruction, but out of gratitude, they prepared the team a meal and a place to recover quietly. Everyone needed a break before the fallout began.

"Go eat," Steve encouraged, meeting Tony outside, standing in the rubble.

"I will," he gave a nod, taking a deep breath.

He had already shared a few words with Steve Rogers about what had happened that day. How stupid, how brave, how unexpected they had both been.

"If you need to go be with your daughter, go," the soldier continued. "We all have plenty of time to deal with what comes next, and Loki is secure."

"For now," Tony sighed.

"He's not getting away again," Steve assured.

"And all that up there?"

"I know," Steve turned his gaze to the sky. "That's...something I never thought we'd be dealing with."

"There's more up there than we're ever going to be prepared for," Tony explained.

"I know," Steve insisted.

They both fell into a moment of silence after that. Both knowing they weren't prepared, knowing this wasn't the end of the real battle, that it was really just the beginning. But they had just won the first battle.

"If my dad did what I did today," Tony began. "I'd hate him."

Steve shook his head.

"Your daughter doesn't hate you,"

"She told me to turn around and come back, and I just...kept going,"

"You saved countless lives, Tony."

"She was crying, and she asked me...and I just..." he trailed off, now talking to himself more than Steve.

"This isn't an easy job, Tony. You already know that. Everything you've gone through, everything you've had to do, it's not easy. I know what it's like to listen to someone you love realize you're not coming back. To hear their voice when they ask you to stay. It's not easy."

Tony looked up at the man, giving a nod of understanding.

"Guess I forgot who I was talking to."

* * *

When they arrived at the house just on the outskirts of the city, Grace felt physically ill. She wanted to throw up, and her whole body was feeling fainter and paler by the second. Pepper held her hand the whole drive, assuring her that Tony was fine and that they would see him soon.

But Grace was still dealing with the trauma of watching her father die. For a few seconds, as drawn out as they were, Grace had watched Tony die. She had felt the pain of losing him, and it was so gut-wrenching that she still couldn't process the fact he was still alive. It had been a long time since Grace had let someone in and let herself feel such a sense of security, and for a few seconds it had broken her heart.

"Sweetie, we're here," Pepper told her softly, brushing hair out of her face.

"Okay," Grace nodded, her voice soft and fragile.

She still felt sick when she slid out of the car, standing up and taking a deep breath of fresh air. The sun was almost completely set and Grace looked toward the unfamiliar house, wondering how many Tony actually owned all around the world. There were lights on inside, barely visible as the shade took over one side of the house. Pepper followed closely behind as they made their way inside, Happy leading them.

Grace walked in first, her arms curled in around herself as she held back her need to either throw up or cry.

And waiting in the middle of the living room, dressed in the same clothes he had been in for days now, covered in dirt and debris and sweat and blood, was Tony.

"Hey kiddo," he whispered, a gentle smile making its way to his lips.

Grace felt her eyes welling up immediately, looking at how battered and bruised he was. Only hours ago she thought she would never see him again.

Tony didn't move toward her, cautious to her emotions, but let Grace step closer until she was close enough to bury herself in his arms. As soon as Tony had his arms around her, he felt like the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders. He could hear her crying, feel her body shaking, and soon enough they were kneeling down onto the floor as Tony held her close and rubbed her back soothingly.

It was silent in the house as Pepper joined them, Tony opening his arms to pull her close as well, pressing kisses all over her head as she nestled onto his shoulder. Sirens rang in the distance, helicopters flying overhead, but they couldn't hear a thing.

Their little family. Together again, with a whole new love for one another.


End file.
